North Shore Synagogue’s Brotherhood held its annual festive Hanukkah Happenings pancake breakfast last month. The hugely popular breakfast is always one of the most anticipated events on the busy North Shore Synagogue calendar and was enjoyed by congregants and their children.
Brotherhood members dress in their commemorative Hanukkah breakfast T-shirts and aprons, then mix up gallons of batter, fire up the griddles and make hundreds of chocolate chip and plain pancakes. The ballroom was decorated with more than two dozen tables set for the occasion with potato latkes, cupcakes, pastries, juices and other tasty treats donated by the Brotherhood, All Round Foods and Del-Mir Caterers. The lobby was filled with dreidels, menorahs, plates and other projects created by our Religious School students.
This year, North Shore held its first “Hanukkontest” contest for the most creative menorah with special prizes for the winners. Entries included a menorah made from recycled bottles, Lego, a bat and ball and a beautiful cake.
Warming up the crowd, Rabbi Jaimee Shalhevet led the junior choir in traditional Hanukkah songs and then the entire congregation in lighting the hannukiah, the Hanukkah menorah.
“Just like Hanukkah brings light and warmth to cold nights, the Hanukkah Happening brought community, friendship and fun together. It seems as if everyone loves this event as much as Brotherhood does,” said Rabbi Shalhevet.
As children took their seats, adults socialized with family, friends and other congregants before the much anticipated main event—raffle drawings for prizes that included games, toys and an auction of sports tickets donated for the celebratory occasion.
As the stacks of pancakes were carried in and enjoyed by attendees, children began to gather around the tables piled high with prizes, carefully monitoring their raffle tickets, often laying them out on the ballroom floor in lucky patterns. They waited in hushed silence as each drawing was made and a number called. A child’s mile-wide smile and shout signified a winner with a matching ticket. Drawings for the most highly valued prizes, including two Android tablets and a full-sized air hockey table were saved for last. Cantor Rich Pilatsky also added his flair to the event by picking the final grand prize raffle ticket. The raffle sale and prize drawings are always one of the highlights of the fun-filled breakfast.
Looking around the packed ballroom, North Shore’s President Harvey Wiesenberg said, “This event brings out the entire North Shore community and it is always a welcome sight to see so many happy faces.”
As people walked out, Hanukkah gelt—chocolate coins, wrapped in shiny gold and silver foil—and dreidels were distributed to all children. A commemorative Brotherhood flashlight was available for adults.
“It was a pleasure to witness the excitement, elation and good fellowship seen at this year’s well-orchestrated Hanukkah Brotherhood event,” said Wiesenberg.
North Shore Synagogue is located at 83 Muttontown Rd. in Syosset and online at www.northshoresynagogue.org.
