Twelve speakers riveted a crowd of mostly young adults Thursday, the third night of Chanukah 5775, at Flatirons Tribe’s Ignite Chanukah event. Each speaker got five minutes to talk about their passion while their 20 projected illustrations flashed up for exactly 15 seconds each.  The talks were on a wide range of subjects, including Happiness, Jewish sustainable farming, a rare two-speaker debate between Ms. Latke and the Hamantaschen Nazi to determine the most tasty Jewish holiday treat, the joys of modesty within Modern Orthodox practice, and the emotional rollercoaster of discovering that one is a crypto-Jew and embracing one’s Jewish identity.

Two of Boulder’s newest rabbis participated: Rabbi Ami Silver talked about what miracle(s) Chanukah is really about and Rabbi Sarah Bracha Gershuny spoke about her newest passion: her new congregation, Nevei Kodesh.  In addition, there was a wonderful demonstration and explanation of Torah trope by Bonai Shalom’s rabbinic intern, Hannah Kapnik Ashar and the newcomer Gary Brandt talked about bowhunting and being a …redneck Jew?

Michael Rosenzweig of Flatiron Tribe and the Boulder JCC did an outstanding job organizing and orchestrating the evening with help from all the speaker/volunteers, as well as kicking off the formal program with his traditional Ignite-style singing introduction.  The food (several kinds of latkes, falafel, hummus and pita, veggies and cookies for dessert) and bar were great as always.

Congressman Jared Polis stopped by early in the evening with his son to say hello, and proud papa Butch Weaver watched as daughter Becca Weaver did her presentation on being a Jewish farmer.  Michael and company set a high bar for this fifth Ignite Chanukah, and we can’t wait to see what #6 brings…

Meanwhile, here are pictures from the event.  Videos of the sparks will be posted soon.