“Judah the Maccabee” strode past aisles of hand tools, rows of carpet swatches and a ceiling full of lighting fixtures to reach the corner of Lowe’s home-improvement store, where tables full of children were busy at work. The older kids were using glue to fasten pieces of wood or plastic onto their menorahs—or in some cases, attaching nuts, bolts and even screws for assembly purposes—while the little ones were meticulously painting wooden candlesticks or coloring Chanukah pictures on paper.
Dressed in a costume and holding a shield, “Judah” (aka Rabbi Mendel Sharfstein, co-director of Chabad at St. Johns County in Florida with his wife, Dini) wandered over to talk to the children about the holiday that so famously involves the Maccabees. He even helped a few with their menorahs.
“It was great; it was very active and super engaging,” says Suzie Becker of St. Johns, Fla., who took her young children—3-year-old D.J. and 7-month-old Brooklyn—to a recent program. “Having Rabbi Mendel dress in costume was tremendous. My son just loved holding the shield.”
D.J. says he really liked building the menorah and painting it his favorite color: blue.
‘If You Build It ... ’
It’s a scene repeated at Home Depot and Lowe’s stores nationwide as thousands of families attend menorah-building workshops before and during the eight-day holiday of Chanukah, which begins on the evening of Sunday, Dec. 6. At these busy programs, kids build their own chanukiahs, sample festive fare like sufganiyot (jelly-filled doughnuts) and latkes (potato pancakes), and learn how olive oil is made, often by watching it pressed by hand. And, of course, they hear all about Chanukah history and traditions, and what it means in these contemporary times.
The workshops have become a mainstay of the winter season for many families, who appreciate the chance to engage Jewishly, especially at this time of year.
While most of the workshops focus on menorah-making, some Chabad centers offer crafting dreidels instead. Among the latter is Chabad of Rock Hill in New York’s Catskills Mountain.
“It’s a very exciting program, and something we haven’t done before,” says Rabbi Simcha Zajac, co-director of Chabad of Rock Hill with his wife, Chany. Their dreidel-building workshop will be held at a local Home Depot on Sunday, Dec. 6, just hours before the start of Chanukah.
“The dreidel will be built out of a wood block and have a dowel inside. We’ll create it a way so that when you pull a string that’s attached to it, the dreidel will spin,” he explains.
The workshop will be taught by Home Depot employees, and dozens of families are expected to attend. “We usually have a nice turnout for our Chanukah programs,” says the rabbi, “and we expect the same for this one.”
For Chanukah information—including locating public menorah-lightings—inspiration, recipes, events for the whole family and more, visit the Chabad.org Chanukah 2015 page here.
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