Shavei Israel Hanukah activities in Europe, South America and India
In addition to Rabbi Pinchas Punturello’s lighting of the hanukiah in Palermo, Sicily, Shavei Israel’s emissaries in Europe, South America and India have a busy schedule planned for Hanukah this week. Here are some of the highlights:
A previous Hanukah in Belmonte, Portugal
Portugal: Rabbi Elisha Salas will be leading a range of activities in the village of Belmonte, which has a new mayor who is making it a priority to revitalize Belmonte’s Jewish past and present. The local council has built a 5-meter high hanukiah in the center of the village and is baking some 300 sufganiot (Hanukah doughnuts). The sufganiyot will come in handy given the particularly full schedule of lectures, movies and concerts being held in honor of the holiday. There will also be an exposition in honor of Captain Arthur Carlos de Barros Basto, the “Portuguese Dreyfus” who Shavei Israel helped gain a posthumous pardon. You can read our coverage on Barros Basto here and more about Belmonte here.
Hanukah in Spain, 2011
Spain: Rabbi Nissan Ben-Avraham will celebrate Hanukah with the Bnei Anousim in two Spanish locations this year: in Albacete for the first day of the holiday, and in Alicante on the second day and Shabbat. He will be with his long-time students for both.
Lighting candles in Poland, 2011
Poland: Rabbi Yehoshua Ellis will lead candle-lighting events in different parts of the Silesia region of the country over the eight days of Hanukah. These include a party for the entire city of Katowice, where Rabbi Ellis is based, including a public outdoor lighting. There will also be parties in the towns of Czestochowa and Bielsko-Biala. Michael Schudrich, Poland’s Chief Rabbi, will be joining the celebrations in Katowice, as well.
Shavei Israel’s newest emissary to Poland, Rabbi Avi Baumol, who is based in Krakow, will open the city’s community Hanukah festival with a talk on “Hanukah as a political, spiritual and national holiday.“ He will also lecture at the Limmud Shabbaton, taking place in Poland this year during Hanukah, on “the role of women in modern times.” He’ll lead candle-lighting for a Polish Jewish senior’s group, join a ski trip for members of the Krakow JCC, and give a talk to students in the history department at Krakow’s Jagiellonian University.
Shavei Israel’s new emissary to Colombia
Colombia: Shavei Israel’s Rabbi Marcelo Shimon Yehoshua will spend the entire Hanukah in the town of Cucuta where each night he will lead a different activity: an evening of song, a cooking night, a class, games and more.
Hanukah celebrations in India, 2012
India: The Bnei Menashe in India are celebrating big time this year with Shavei Israel’s help. Given the large size of the community still in India, Yochanan Phaltual, our emissary to the Indian state of Manipur, which has the largest population of Bnei Menashe, is supported by a team of nearly 100 Shavei Israel “Fellows,” who will be leading programs and teaching classes throughout the northeastern part of the country on the theme “Illuminating the Flames of Redemption.” Planned activities include a children’s Israeli song competition; the annual Hanukah quiz; theater productions recreating the struggle between the Maccabees and the Greeks; lots of dreidel playing; and of course nightly candle-lightings in the 17 participating village synagogues. During the day, the Shavei Fellows will be organizing various games, sports and recreational activities. In some of the Bnei Menashe villages, a communal feast will be held on the first and last days of the holiday. The Bnei Menashe will have a special guest from the Holy Land, too: Bnei Menashe social worker Itzkhak Colney, who made aliyah in 2005, is spending Hanukah in the Mizoram region.
Shavei Israel wishes all of the Jewish people a Happy Hanukah – wherever you are in the world!