2,000 Celebrate at Hanukkah Festival

More than 2,000 people enjoyed an assortment of food, crafts and educational tidbits Sunday at a San Fernando Valley celebration marking the start of Hanukkah.

The second annual West Valley Hanukkah Festival at the West Valley Jewish Community Center attracted Jewish families from the Valley and over the hill in other parts of Los Angeles.

Hanukkah is an eight-day festival that commemorates the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem by Judas Maccabaeus in 165 BC after the Maccabees’ victory over the Syrians.

Community center Director Arnie Sohinki said the festival, sponsored by local synagogues and community groups, is aimed at gathering residents together and offering them a little fun.

“A lot of times the community can be a little fragmented,” Sohinki said. “So this is just a time and a way that people can come together. And it’s also an opportunity to teach kids about Hanukkah.”

Jim Bouzaglou, a Studio City resident whose company builds elevators, was gazing at the Jewish Wall of Fame. The photos and accompanying quotes paid tribute to famous Jews such as Barbra Streisand, Albert Einstein and Dodger legend Sandy Koufax, who never played baseball on Yom Kippur or Rosh Hashanah. Bouzaglou and his wife, Sherrie, brought their son Joel to the celebration so he could get a taste of his culture.

“This brings back memories of when I tried to get out of going to Sunday school,” Bouzaglou said, laughing as Joel chomped on cookies. “I want to expose my son to his roots. Plus, I like the warm interaction with the people, especially at this time of the year.”

Granada Hills High School counselor Dale Alpert led a round of Israeli folk dancing. One dance, called the “Mechol Ha Shabat,” or “Dance of the Sabbath,” is both enjoyable and meaningful, Alpert said.

“This dance is a reminder that we should carry the messages of Sabbath, which include prayer and meditation, with us all week,” Alpert said.

Next door to the dancing, a small group of guests were singing “Yerushalaim shel Zahav,” or “Jerusalem of Gold.”

Woodland Hills resident Dori Orenstein said the song captures the symbolic beauty of the famed city, a wellspring of religious life.

“When the sun sets in the city, it looks like gold because of the building materials,” she said.

Before the crowd attended the ceremonial lighting of one candle on the menorah, comedian and Grammy-winning singer Doug Cotler combined his wit and original Jewish folk songs to entertain an enthusiastic throng in the auditorium.

Switching back and forth from Hebrew to English, Cotler enticed participants to sing along.

Cotler later reminisced about the sage advice once given to him by a rabbi: “The greatest thing in the Torah is that we should treat other people just like we would want to be treated.”