MASON AREA’S FIRST JEWISH CENTER OFFERS FAMILY FUN FOR CHANUKAH
The Mason / Deerfield / West Chester area Jewish community will receive a significant boost during this year’s holiday season as the area’s first Jewish Center, The Jewish Discovery Center (www.JDiscovery.com), will be offering a plethora of Chanukah fun programs and celebrations for the entire family.
Kicking off the season with a community-wide Scholastic and Jewish Book and Chanukah Fair, the Jewish Discovery Center is making available an array of children’s books, innovative Chanukah gifts and Judaica in time for Chanukah.
“Recognizing that literacy is the cornerstone of a child's intellectual, personal and cultural growth, the Jewish Discovery Center is providing high quality children's literature and products to educate, entertain and motivate children and are designed to help enlarge their understanding of the world around them,” announced Rochel Kalmanson, Program Director of The Jewish Discovery Center and Principle of The Chai Tots Early Childhood Center (www.ChaiTots.com). “We also want to make children's books with Jewish themes and innovative Chanukah gifts easily accessible, for they play a vital role in every Jewish home, playroom, classroom and library,” she added.
The fair, open from November 27 through December 1, will offer books from leading publishers promoting universal values such as sharing, kindness and charity, and teaching Jewish history and tradition. It will also feature a conveniently located one-stop-shop for all one’s Chanukah accessories and gifts.
Hosted at The Jewish Discovery Center, 7587 Central Parke Blvd, in Mason, the fair will be open daily from 9:00a – 5:30p and in evenings by appointment. There will be something for everyone’s budget and taste.
Then, on Monday, December 11, the children, ages 3-5, are invited to bring their parents to the Kids Craft Club, a pre-holiday craft club for children, featuring The Olive Oil Factory. At this hands-on workshop, centered on a genuine olive oil hand press, participants will learn how real olive oil is made. Bringing ancient traditions to life, children will squeeze, press, pound and pulverize authentic olives into fresh olive oil, discovering how the Maccabees of antiquity processed and refined oil for the Menorah [candelabra] in the Chanukah story. When the process is completed, participants will witness the Menorah lit from the oil produced.
This popular pre-Holiday craft club, offered before each Jewish holiday, teaches children the beauty of the holiday, in a fun-filled, hands-on, nurturing environment. Children and adults will experientially learn about Chanukah by enjoying a story, eating potato Latkes [pancakes], learning to play the Dreidel, receiving chocolate Chanukah Gelt [coins] and discovering the entire process of creating oil for use in the Chanukah Menorah.
On the fifth night of Chanukah, December 20th, The Jewish Discovery Center’s POPS (Parents of Preschoolers) club presents Chanukah Family Game Night N’ Latkes. The popular club for families with preschool-aged children is offering a fun-filled opportunity to join other families for an exciting night of candle-lighting, games and fun while spending quality Chanukah time bonding with family. Families can play Dreidel, boggle, scrabble, monopoly, chess, checkers, and other more age-appropriate games, as they indulge in a choice of potato latkes, apple latkes, sweet potato latkes, cheese latkes and a variety of additional home-made latkes with assorted toppings.
"Chanukah is a time for celebrating the freedom to openly celebrate our values; these programs proclaim that message to the world", said Rabbi Yosef Kalmanson. "We appreciate the community’s eagerness to bring a comprehensive Holiday spirit to the area. There is no better way to celebrate our new Community Center than with Chanukah programs that symbolize Unity, Light and Joy."
The entire community is invited for these events, taking place at the newly constructed Jewish Discovery Center conveniently located across from Cedar Village in Mason.
To learn more about this holiday, log onto www.JDiscovery.com. Clicking on the Chanukah link brings the surfer to the largest interactive Chanukah website online and provides information and video demonstrations on the hows, whys and whens of the holiday. The site also offers an "Ask the Rabbi" feature for any holiday question.
The Jewish Discovery Center (www.JDiscovery.com) is the center for the entire Jewish community in the Northern corridor and offers numerous classes and educational opportunities to study more about Judaism and its relevance to the post-modern Jew. They also maintain an online library with numerous interactive resources available on their website, www.JDiscovery.com. For more information on these Chanukah programs, visit the website or call 531.DISCOVER (531.3472).
