Mothers Circle Annual Hanukkah party

On Tuesday evening December 3, a group of Mothers Circle alumnae and their families gathered in the Temple Emanu-El vestry for the fifth annual Mothers Circle Hanukkah party. Mothers Circle, a program created by the Jewish Outreach Institute and funded locally by the Jewish Alliance, welcomes and teaches women of other religious backgrounds who are raising Jewish children.

Moms, dads and even grandparents were in attendance, along with children ranging from six weeks to eleven years old. After lighting the candles and feasting on latkes, the group was led in an innovative game of dreidel by Rabbi Elan Babchuk – innovative because, in an effort to “get rid of” some extra Frisbees, Rabbi Babchuk decreed that anyone landing on a Nun would receive a Frisbee.  (As one can imagine, this led to the need to keep the younger members of the party from tossing Frisbees inside.)

This is an event the Mothers Circle families have come to anticipate. When three-year-old Anna Sherer arrived in a party dress, her mother Jen remarked that Anna had been looking forward to this party for days.  Later, Jen said, “I really can’t get over how excited Anna was for the party and how much she remembered about last year’s party. I’m glad it will be one of her precious childhood memories, since giving her good Jewish memories is something that won’t always come easily for me (or at least not naturally!)”

Even though they were at a conflicting event, Shelly Feinstein and her five-year-old son Hunter managed to stop in. And the family of Laura Cohan raced from basketball practice at 6th grader Josh’s school.  Cynthia Sparr noted that, “The Hanukkah party is a wonderful family event.  Not only do we get to catch up with our Mothers Circle friends but our kids also have the opportunity to meet other Mothers Circle families and become comfortable in the temple setting, eat traditional latkes and have a blast playing dreidel with the rabbi!”

This year, as a tzedakah project, the families brought in donations of new socks, underwear and diapers for Project Undercover. They managed to over-fill a large box, making it so heavy that many of its contents had to be carried out separately.

As the families left, being “forced” to take leftover food with them, veteran of three Mothers Circle Hanukkah parties Donna Ross, grandmother of Noah and Elliot (and mother-in-law of Mothers Circle alumna Maria) made a point of saying that she and her husband would be back again next year.

The fifth annual Hanukkah party also means we have completed the fifth year of Mothers Circle, which is an event worth noting.  In fact, the celebration will continue well beyond Hanukkah, as the Mothers Circle Fifth Year Anniversary will be celebrated by the entire community at the Alliance Open House on January 5. Preceded by story time and followed by craft time, Mothers Circle will be celebrated with cake at 11:00 a.m.  All are invited!

For more information about Mothers Circle, contact Kit Haspel (khaspel@jewishalliance.org), Director of Interfaith Outreach at the Alliance, at 421-4111, ext. 184.

For more information about the Alliance Open House, contact Michelle Cicchitelli (mcicchitelli@jewishallianceri.org), Director of Jewish Life, at 421-4111, ext. 178.