Third Night of Chanukah a Party

Tonight (Friday night) I went to my synagogue in Davis to a dinner and party for Chanukah! It was very sweet seeing old friends, and lots and lots of little kids. The fifth grade class put on a music and Story of Chanukah performance and they led the service, which also focused on the story and songs of Chanukah. I ate potato latkes with apple sauce. We sang songs, and the kids played driedel. (the spinning of four sided tops with Hebrew letters each meaning something different. A game of chance it is. Many of us brought menorahs from home and at one point we lit the three candles for the third day of Chanukah. It was fun to see so many different types of menorahs. I encourage you to enlarge the photo collage to see them more clearly. I took the menorah I inherited from my grandparents home and it is the one in the middle of the collage. Some are silver, some gold, some with clay animals, some with little houses, some modern and some with a more ancient look to them. Dh stayed home, but he told me he lit our menorah there and said the blessing in Hebrew! Love that man!

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On a much less happy note the Rabbi informed us that in Israel right now in Haifa there is the worst wild fire burning that has ever occurred in the state. Forty seven people have died, over 8,000 acres have burned, thousands of homes have been evacuated. Please send good thoughts in that direction, prays if you do that, for this fire to be controlled quickly and so no more lives will be lost. Thank you.