Hanukkah Illustrated

Congregation Bonai Shalom is proud to bring one of the world’s master Jewish teachers, Noam Zion, to be our Hanukkah Scholar-in-Residence.  Noam Zion is a fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute for Advanced Jewish Studies in Jerusalem and has a Master of Arts in philosophy from Columbia University. His numerous publications include: A Different Night: The Family Participation Haggadah, A Different Light: The Big Book of Hanukkah, A Day Apart: Shabbat at Home.

All events are at Congregation Bonai Shalom, unless otherwise noted.  All programs are free and open to the public with the exception of Shabbat Dinner (requires RSVP and payment).

Friday Night, December 3

6.00pm Kabbalat Shabbat Services

~7.15pm Shabbat Dinner

Join us for Shabbat dinner with our scholar.  RSVP’s required.  Cost for Bonai Shalom members is $18/adult (13 and up), $13/child (6-12).  Cost for non members is $22/adult (13 and up), $15/child (6-12).  Space is limited and we expect to sell out!  RSVP by Tuesday, November 30^th to 303-442-6605 or office@bonaishalom.org

8:45pm The Struggle between Hanukkah and Shabbat Candles: The Courage to Resist versus the Courage to Let Go

Candles are symbols not just empty rituals and stand for crucial values in conflict. A trivial question about candles becomes for the philosopher Maimonides a debate between war and compromise, between national and domestic priorities, between a man’s world of valor and a woman’s world of peace.

Saturday, December 4

9.30am Shabbat Morning Services & D’var Torah given by our Scholar

~12:30pm Kiddush Lunch & Learn: Hanukkah – How to Celebrate a Civil War or How Hanukkah was Reinvented Three Times in the 20th C.

Putting a menorah in your window is like sticking a political poster in your lawn. What does your candle stand for? Is your candidate the Child of Light or the Prince of Darkness?  The Jewish cultural civil war is not over by far. CHabad, Reform Judaism, and Secular Zionism have renewed Hanukkah with new meaning by turning the past into a springboard for their ideological battles against those kinds of Judaism they condemn. Each claims to have the secret to Jewish survival found in the Hanukkah tale.

Sunday, December 5

7.30pm Profiles in Jewish Courage and the Feminization of the Hanukkah Heroes

Join us for Hanukkah candle lighting and a short talk with Noam Zion.  Opportunities for book purchase & signing!  Please note: This event will take place at Rabbi Marc’s home (call the office at 303-442-6605 for more information).