Couples Class

     On Thursday December 6, 2007 Renee and Albert Dwek hosted a magnificent evening in their beautiful home.  The Kol Israel community was treated to a spectacular night of socializing, celebrating, and learning. Renee and Albert’s warmth and hospitality was certainly felt by all. We enjoyed Renee’s outstanding dessert table of the most beautiful Syrian pastries, finest chocolates, and delectable sweets and fruit. Albert’s charm and sincere welcome set the tone for a magical evening. Our always gracious and generous hosts truly created a festive setting for the community to enjoy.

   A very powerful Hanukkah class was led by Rabbi  Naftali Besser. He presented an Israeli documentary about the Gaza Disengagement. As we know, a major theme of Hanukkah is bravery.  Using the film, Rabbi Besser illustrated that there are many ways to be brave. He explained that this film depicted the bravery and dedication of the Jews to Am Yisrael on both sides of the disengagement. As we watched this very emotional film, we were reminded that we need to be introspective regarding our values and priorities. With this lesson the holiday of Hanukkah took on new meaning for many.

Ice Skating

             On December 9, 2007 our congregation went on an ice skating trip to Aviator Sports. This trip was part of our annual Hanukah program. We had non-stop fun! Whether we were falling flat on our faces or gliding through the air, we were enjoying it the whole time. We were skating with our friends and family, which made it all the more enjoyable right from the get-go. It was exactly what Hanukah is about. Not about getting iPods, MacBooks and Nintendo wiis. It’s about being united, happy and appreciating life because of the two miracles that happened on Hanukah. That’s just how it was when we were ice skating.

             For an hour and a half we had the skating rink reserved just for the members of Kol Israel. Some people had serious talent and some did their best, which is the most important thing, right? This wasn’t the first time our shul went ice skating together. However it was the first time we had a professional skater with us! Ice skating was so special and we had something else that made it even better. We saw a performance by my brother’s girlfriend, the one and only, the very talented… Karen Shua-Haim. She entertained us with her high jumps, triple axels, death spirals and crazy fast spins. We were all left speechless with our eyes wide and mouths hanging open in shock! Most of the people (especially the young ones) never saw someone do a triple axel in person. The whole trip was a blast. Many thanks to Elliot Dweck and the entire youth committee. Can’t wait till next year!

Bingo Night

            What makes Hanukah in Kol Israel so special? It could be the great staff and committee members we have in our synagogue. It can also be the fun programs that they organize for Hanukah. On December 9th the synagogue went on an ice skating trip to Aviator Sports. As much fun as that was, we also had so much fun on the night of December 8, 2007 - Bingo night! For $5.00 we got pizza, a ticket for the Chinese auction and the best night of our lives!! We owe big thanks to Andrea and Jack Sabin who did an amazing job organizing it. We also owe a big thanks to the people who sponsored all of the fantastic prizes in the Chinese Auction. There were such awesome gifts such as guitar hero (the Wii game), iPod touch, iPod nano video, sports tickets and the girl’s package which is every girl’s dream to win.

               Bingo night was a ton of fun. First we put in thousands of tickets in whatever we wanted and thought we had a chance of winning. Then we played thrilling, close games of bingo. Even though everyone was one or two spots away from winning, there were only a few winners. The winners received prizes and good luck for the picking of the Chinese auction. The whole night we were having a blast with our friends while we were counting the seconds until we found out who the winners of the Chinese auction were. Last but not least, they finally announced who the lucky winners were. Bingo night was just what Hanukah was about, celebrating the miracles that Hashem did and being glad and happy. Let’s thank everyone who was involved with Bingo night including the kids for coming. It’s going to be hard to wait another whole year to do it again!