By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews
Despite Hanukkah falling so early on the calendar this year — we’ll hardly have time to fit into our pants again after Thanksgiving — opportunities to celebrate abound. Synagogues all over the state are having their own parties — you can find details at any synagogue’s Web site or at the online community calendar at calendar.jtnews.net — but here are a few that draw people in from near and far, and can help the less fortunate among us at the same time.
The MAZON Hanukkah party: Feeding us to fight hunger
Pip and Miriam Meyerson have worked hard to throw this party for about six years now. There’s the procurement (how many pounds of potatoes do you need to make latkes for 200?), the menu planning, the cooking, the table setting, the buffet replenishing, and then the hoping: Hoping people will come, hoping people will eat, hoping the people won’t eat too much.
“It’s a really nice dinner,” says Pip, “It’s a great communal event, and with the candle lighting and the music, families gathering — it’s an evening of surprises.”
But most important is the hope that the people who come to this Hanukkah party and dinner, which benefits MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, will remember that though their food needs are being met for this evening, a lot of others’ — including many who at some point probably gave generously at a previous MAZON event — are not.
The Meyersons have been making traditional Jewish food in Seattle since the 1970s, first at the Matzoh Momma deli and now as a catering business. They have long been devoted to ensuring that the people without the means to feed themselves get fed. But it was in 2003 that they, along with Rabbi Jim Mirel and several other friends in Seattle’s Jewish community, decided to turn this into more of a Jewish event.
“It’s difficult out there,” says Miriam. “We are so privileged here — I have to underline that — and I think people need to have that perspective.”
From that sentiment came the MAZON dinner. Matzoh Momma has always committed to donating the food — 100 pounds of potatoes, 40 pounds of onions, 50 pounds of salmon, plus so much more — and Rabbi Mirel’s Shalom Ensemble provides entertainment, Temple De Hirsch Sinai allows use of the space and the Meyersons rely on friends to do the table service. They have also received funding from members of the Jewish community such as Kenny and Marleen Alhadeff, among others.
Los Angeles-based MAZON gives money to food banks and food-related organizations around the world, including several in this state such as Jewish Family Service of Greater Seattle and Food Lifeline, which distributes food and funds to several area food banks.
Pip says he appreciates “the idea that a Jewish communal organization like MAZON, that distributes its moneys to secular non-Jewish — probably predominantly secular organizations — at this particular time in our history. It’s very important that the greater community sees the support and outreach coming form the Jewish community to them.”
But it’s also a party, and the Meyersons hope that their night of a thousand latkes, as they call it, will bring out people and their families from all across the community, as it has done for so many years, to open their hearts and wallets in exchange for some great salmon and even better memories.
If you go: The MAZON Hanukkah Celebration takes place on Sun., Dec. 5 from 5:30–8:30 p.m. at Temple De Hirsch Sinai, 1520 E Union St., Seattle. No charge, but minimum $50 donation per person is requested. RSVP at MatzohMommaMazon@gmail.com.
Come home for Hanukkah — to the JCC
What is the first thing that pops into your mind when you think about Hanukkah? For many, it’s the winter holiday’s central activity — the candle lighting. Hanukkah just doesn’t feel like Hanukkah if you’re not basking in the glow of those colored candles, which is exactly the feeling planners of this year’s community-wide family celebration hopes to recreate.
“We wanted the spiritual side of Hanukkah — with fun,” says Kim Greenhall, director of community services at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, one of the co-planners of “Coming Home for Hanukkah,” to be held at the Stroum Jewish Community Center on Mercer Island.
There will be several activities, mostly geared toward kids, at this daytime event that includes a production of Mrs. Greenberg’s Messy Hanukkah, a current selection from the PJ Library Jewish books program, by the teens in the JCC’s CenterStage theater troupe; a mitzvah project activity room that will allow anyone to help bag dry goods for the Jewish Family Service food bank; and, of course, dreidel.
It wouldn’t be a Jewish event without food — and even that will be a community project. J Team, the group of teens that spends a year learning about charities both local and worldwide, then divides up a pot of money to donate to these organizations, will be selling the goodies to raise funds to increase their pool of funds. In addition, the Rainier BBYO chapter will be selling jelly doughnuts, a traditional Israeli Hanukkah treat.
It’s an opportunity to “engage teens to really do good in the world — the spiritual side of doing good, and not just ‘Let’s have a party,’” Greenhall says.
The event will culminate in the gym, with the lights turned low, as families will get together for a sing-a-long and then a candle lighting of more than 100 menorahs around the room. Many hanukkiot will be on hand, but families are invited to bring their own so they can recreate the coziness of the holiday and bask in its glow with the other families around them.
“It should be amazing,” Greenhall said.
If you go:“Coming Home for Hanukkah” takes place on Sun., Dec. 5 from 11 a.m.–2 p.m. at the Stroum Jewish Community Center, 3801 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island. Free. Bring your hanukkiah and candles. For more information, visit bit.ly/ejZNVq.
Spinning, spinning, spinning: The Big Spin
When the women who founded the Mitzvah Mama Guild for Seattle Children’s Hospital held their first Big Spin event last year, they raised $12,000 to take a bite out of the more than $96 million in uncompensated care the hospital provided in 2009. That number is already expected to be much higher for 2010 — as much as $150 million.
Realizing that though their contribution so far has been small, it still makes a big difference, this year they’re doing it even bigger. They’ve still got the fun stuff — the face painting, the candy menorah building, goodies, the big dreidel where everyone wins a prize that’s actually valuable — but this year will have much more of a focus on the music.
Co-founder Laura Glass has brought in three nationally recognized local bands in the “kindie” music scene, all of whom are donating their services to the cause: Caspar Babypants, a.k.a. Chris Ballew, a.k.a. the guy from the Presidents of the United States of America who performed last year; Recess Monkey, three local teachers that have “a firsthand level of understanding and an intuitive nature of what kids respond to,” Glass says, and a fixture at so many community celebrations; and the Not-Its!, a band that dresses up in ‘80s-style and other retro garb and really appeals to the “tween” population.
“It’s nice having these band there, straddling the childhood experience, and to have them under one roof,” Glass says, in particular because they all are “doing this for the love of Children’s. It’s really flattering and humbling.”
The three women who came up with Mitzvah Mama — Seattle Children’s first specifically Jewish guild — plus a fourth who joined them this year all have children who spent time at the hospital. They wanted to do something to acknowledge their gratitude for what the hospital’s doctors and staff had done for their families, but on behalf of the Jewish community.
“Once we found out there wasn’t a Jewish guild…we immediately wanted to do something about it,” Glass says.
And from that, the 2009 Big Spin was born. For 2010, they have had much more time to plan and bring in sponsors. They have also more than doubled their goal — to $25,000 — and they are confident they can do it.
“We’re excited to be doing something that’s a little different, a little off the beaten track, [but] also celebrates the community,” Glass says. “It really brings this community together.”
If you go: The Big Spin gets spun on Sun., Dec. 12 from 2–5 p.m. at the Museum of History and Industry, 2700 24th Ave. E, Seattle. Cost of $48/adult, $36/kid age 1 and up includes concert, activities, and a goodie bag. Visit thebigspin.org to purchase tickets online.