Rabbi's Reflections

Chanukah begins on Friday night, December 11. This year add a twist to your holiday celebration by turning your Chanukah ‘green.’ The following ideas are just a small part of the material available from the URJ Religious Action Center at their website on Sustaining the Light: A Social Justice Program Guide for Chanukah.

http://rac.org/_kd/Items/actions.cfm? action=Show&item_id=1270&destination=ShowItem

Help cut down on waste and try some of these environmentally friendly gift ideas for Chanukah.

- Save paper and send an e-card.
- Make your own gifts! Especially from children, homemade gifts are often more special than anything you can buy. Take a photo and design a frame for it, knit a scarf for the winter or make a set of beeswax candles for someone to burn in their chanukiyah… There are lots of great books about homemade gifts in your library; check one out today!
- Give Chanukah gelt in the form of tzedakah to a Jewish or environmental organization of your choice in honor of a friend or relative. ‘Adopt’ an animal, plant a tree or buy an acre of rain forest in someone’s honor.
- Food! Edible gifts are always great for holidays. Bake someone a batch of cookies in Chanukah shapes, cook sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts, a traditional Chanukah treat) or be more creative.
- Get something that’s both useful and reusable: a travel mug, cloth bag, linen napkins, reusable lunchbox, etc.
- Make your own gift certificate or coupon. You could give someone ‘a night at the movies,’ ‘one week of walking the dog,’ etc. This is a great way to give someone exactly what he or she wants!
- Buy someone an environmental book, subscription to an environmental magazine or a membership to a museum or zoo – a gift they can enjoy all year.
- Instead of regular gift wrap, use recycled or reusable packaging or a piece of cloth tied with ribbon.

I hope these ideas and the others available at the link above will give your celebration new meaning this year. The Winokur family looks forward seeing you at the dinner preceding the first night of Chanukah-Shabbat service on December 11 and to celebrating the last night of Chanukah with you at Shabbat services on December 18.

B’Shalom,
Rabbi Harvey J. Winokur

I offer my heartfelt appreciation for the many expressions of sympathy I received following the death of my father.