THE COVES SHARE HANUKKAH

MEMBERS OF THE COVES AT RIVER GARDEN SHARE FAVORITE HANUKKAH MEMORIES

My childhood recollection of Hanukkah is Armed with two electric fry pans and a large quantity of that it was treated as a more serious holiday, Latke mix, we made our way to Congregation B'Nai Israel. with prayers over a menorah containing We were very enthusiastic and began the chore of providing bright orange candles, some practical gifts the main source of our celebration: Latkes. At one point a for me [the only child] and a little gelt. person’s head appeared at the kitchen door: It was a congreEmphasizing the Hanukkah story with my gant with a complaint. Guess what? Apparently we were children and then grandchildren gave meaning to the taking too much time and not producing the latkes fast holiday. Shopping for each other and presenting the eight enough! Would you believe?! - June Meinstein days of gifts for the little ones was fun. Family dinner and the Hanukkah play at Solomon Schechter school made for a decided to have a Chanukah party at our little synagogue in the village of Fleischmanns. My husband and I volunteered to make Latkes for all who came. celebratory week enjoyed by everyone. - Rhoda Kagan I expect my memory of Hanukkah is a little different. As a Catholic, I attended a Brooklyn NY school where at least 90% of

Our closest friends and neighbors were the students and teachers were Jewish. City Christians and we kids did all of the holi- schools could not shut down, so those of us days together. It was a wonderful way of that showed up were regrouped into rooms sharing and learning about our customs. by grade, with whatever teachers were - Rose Lynn Plotkin available. Of course, that was a blast! In the afternoon we all gathered in the auditorium for a movie or something It is December in the Catskills Mountains all schools shut down for Christmas, we all got a break of New York and winter is in full swing. We again, including my Jewish friends. - John Donnangelo "educational." Sometimes we went home early. Then, when

What’s my favorite Hanukkah memory? Nothing elaborate, in fact, looking back quite paltry: One single chrome Menorah, six children standing around, each one lighting their own candle and Daddy’s warm and protective hand cradling each of the children’s, guiding them to their light. Each year, a brand new box of Crayola crayons - 8 My favorite memory of Hanukkah involves my grandfather who was the neighborhood Rabbi. My fondest memory is going to his home. Back in those days we had oil burning lamps, and I was always present at my grandfather's house where we use such lamps. That was a long time ago. Today those are my warm memories. - Sylvia Lubliner colorful ones, as we crack open the box, the scent wafts through the air, sitting on the steps, we begin to color in our crisp new Hanukkah coloring book. - Cheryl Fisch We always got eight gifts -- one each night. The gifts always started small, and my parents made it a crescendo. Each At the time there was a program on TV dedicated to children called Ding Dong School with Miss Frances. During one Hanukkah, the fi rst grade class at Solomon Schechter was invited to participate in the program explaining about Hanukkah. All went well until my daughter Susan decided to say something which was, “Christmas is my favorite holiday!” - Louise Leve night the gift got better than the night before. I was a teenager and wanted a record player badly. Anyway, that year I got my record player on the last night. After I was married and mother myself, we did the same thing with our boys. When the older one was three, his father walked in with a sled. (We lived in Pennsylvania at the time.) Ira, my husband, was so excited to see our son Larry's reaction. Larry looked at the sled and said, “What's that?” - Evelyn Peck