Latkes, Games, Contests, and More: Fun at the Hebrew High Hanukkah Party

Charlotte Jewish News January 2022

By Liza Simon and Megan Harkavy Latkes, games, and contests were just a few of the activities at the Hebrew High Hanukkah party. It was so much fun to celebrate together in person as one community of teens. The evening started out with a delicious assortment of traditional Hanukkah foods — latkes and sufganyot (donuts). After we ate, we sang the candle lighting blessings and sang Maoz Tzur.

The teens then had options of several rotations: paper bag dramatics, building menorahs or dreidels out of LEGOS, a service project to make blessing bags for the homeless, or playing dreidel. And of course, the photo booth was open the entire night to take silly selfie pictures with several Hanukkah-themed props.

Prizes were given to the people who had the best Hanukkah outfit, built the best LEGO menorah, and had the best Hanukkah skit. One group performed a skit about the miracle of Hanukkah. Another reenacted the war between the Maccabees and King Antiochus. Everyone came dressed in their best Hanukkah outfits! These included menorah sweaters, funny socks, and dreidel headbands. At the end, the judges made the difficult decision of which group had built the best LEGO menorah. There were so many beautiful creations, but the winner was the dreidel – it even included the letters!

Everyone had a great time at the party. One teen said, “I had a lot of fun! I really enjoyed being able to do the skit and the photo booth.” Another said, “It was so much fun, and the latkes were delicious.” Next year Hebrew High is hoping to have more teens involved in planning, so be sure to start brainstorming some ideas!

Photo Caption: Eighth grade boys having fun at the photobooth