Hanukkah P in a time of
COVID Local institutions plan for cautious return to in-person celebrations
R AC H E L R A S K I N - Z R I H E N
andemic or no pandemic, Hannukah will come this year as it has annually for more than 2,000 years. The people who celebrate it may have had to rethink ways of doing so, but most, including some in the Napa Valley Jewish community, plan to observe the remembrance of a long-ago miracle either way. For instance, Rabbi Elchonon Tenenbaum, of Chabad of Napa Valley and Touro University California Campus Rabbi, said the plan is to do something in person, but outdoors. “This year, we’ll do something for Hanukkah outdoors,” Tenenbaum said. “Usually, for
the past five years, we have celebrated in downtown Napa, in the Veterans Park, at 3rd and Main, but for 15 years we have gathered in different locations downtown.” The observance of Hanukkah, Chabad style, involves lighting a giant menorah, and enjoying entertainment, sufganiyot (special jelly donuts) and latkes (potato pancakes with sour cream or applesauce), as well as “kids crafts, music and good cheer,” he said. Hanukkah this year runs from Nov. 28 through Dec. 6. Last year, though, for the first COVID Hanukkah, volunteers Please see Hanukkah, Page 18
Sara Tenenbaum colors a Hanukkah decoration in 2014 during the Menorah lighting ceremony at Whole Foods Market in Napa. 16 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY
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FALL/WINTER 2021
