Kislev/Tevet 5777 • December 2016
Happy Hanukkah!
Rabbi emeritus featured in Toledo Library documentary
Hanukkah Palooza 2016 Sunday, December 11
By Emily Gordon
Rabbi continued on page 8
Page 11
A picture perfect Annual Turkey Dinner
Pages 12 & 13
NW Ohio Jewish Book Festival is a huge success
A Far Out Groovy Hippie Hanukkah Happening G Sunday, December 11 r oo 11:30 a.m. vy Temple Shomer Emunim ,b FREE! Right on, man! ab Please bring in adult y socks (new or gently loved) or toiletries to donate to St. Paul's community center
Get stoked for an unreal Hanukkah celebration! Come in your best hippie attire – tie dye, peace signs, mood rings and more! Groovy music, outtasight moves, righteous eats, airbrush trucker hats, spin art Frisbees, face painting and more!
Gary & Andrea Delman Family Foundation
Don't flip out! Stay in the groove! For more information contact Hallie Freed at 419-724-0362 or hallie@jewishtoledo.org
Pages 19
A Rabbi's new role with the Toledo Ballet
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Rabbi Alan Sokobin has curated a fine collection of stories over the course of his nine decades of life and he never passes up an opportunity to share one. Whether it's over dinner with family, after class with a student, or with congregants of Temple Shomer Emunim before and after services, Rabbi Sokobin always has a story to tell. Recently, the retired rabbi of the Temple told his stories in a way he never had before. Rabbi Sokobin was interviewed by Tom Walton, retired Toledo Blade editor, for an episode of Sight and Sound, a documentary-style project created by Toledo-Lucas County Public Library and the Blade in which notable Toledoans share their life stories and the ways they've helped shape Toledo history. Now friends, family, students, and even strangers can enjoy Rabbi Sokobin's stories for generations to come. "Walton was a straight newsman," he said about their interview for Sight and Sound. "He asked me about my education, my service during World War II, more factual questions than idea oriented." But by collecting information in this way, Walton got the ball rolling for Rabbi Sokobin to think about and share his life story. He was born in 1926 in Newark, New Jersey, to a family that had fled the dangers of Europe for a more welcoming nation. Rabbi Sokobin proudly recalls serving his country as a teenager in the Navy during World War II. “I responded to the needs of my country, which had responded to the needs of my family years before,” he said. Though a "wonderful place to live 51 weeks out of the year," Rabbi Sokobin said of Newark, just one winter week contained enough anti-Semitism for him to recall decades later in his adopted hometown of Toledo. "One Christmas, the local monsignor told all my friends that I bore the burden of having killed Jesus," he said. "As an adult, I became good friends with Bishop James Hoffmann and later was honored to give his eulogy during