Hanukkah,
the Festival of Light and Miracle, was widely celebrated by the San Diego
Yehudim (Jewish) community. A large group of volunteers, led by Boris
Kandhorov, the newly elected president of the community, helped plan and run the
event.
It was
decided, largely thanks to the initiative and participation of Rafael
Kalendarev and his family, to focus on the younger generation and children in
order to increase interest in our traditions, provide a taste of their meaning
and flavor, teach them about the miracle of Chanukah, and allow them to get to
know their peers on a more personal level. They are, after all, our hope for
the future!
Nearly the
entire neighborhood gathered in the Grandstand restaurant's spacious hall. The
holiday was a success, and the Hanukkah theme was present from the very
beginning all the way through to the very end thanks to the sponsors and
activists who prepared everything with seriousness.
Many thanks
to Evgeniy Davydov's family and doctor Lyudmila Gerova. They, along with their
children, the attorney Robert and the future dentist Vita, financed the
decorations (Hanukkah panels, garlands, balloons, lights, beautiful Hanukkah
tablecloths, napkins, Menorahs, and candles for each table) as well as baked suvganiyots
(jelly doughnuts) and latkes (potato pancakes).
At the
beginning of the event, Robert presented a lecture on the history of Hanukkah
in English, and Vita and Robert did a fantastic job directing the many
children's Hanukkah activities and contests. It was wonderful to see how
attentively the English-speaking children and youth listened.
Thank you
very much to Boris Matatov, the spiritual leader of the community, for his
consultations and guidance for the holiday; for the enormous central Menorah,
which the organizers of the event were invited to light; and for the intriguing
narrative of the Chanukah Miracle in Russian. Thank you to his daughter's
family, Nella and Boris Zavurov: they sponsored the gifts, which were
thoughtfully selected for each of the 33 children who were present at the
holiday, and their teenage daughters, Avochka and Emmochka, decorated the gifts
themselves in an enthusiastic and tasteful manner.
Special
thanks to the film producer Sophia and web designer Ariella, the daughters of
Ira Shalomayeva and Gary Swedback, for putting together and running the
"Jeopardy"-themed contest so well. That was the true "highlight
of the program," the intellectual component. The questions covered a wide
range of topics, including the origins of Hanukkah, the cultural contributions
of Jews in Bukhara, the Silk Road, the Torah Pentateuch, the history of the San
Diego Yehudim and a variety of other questions that got everyone thinking and
allowed them to show off their knowledge. It was fantastic! Even the most
difficult questions were correctly answered.
Thank you
to our long-term sponsor, Roman Zakinov, who put together an excellent holiday
Hanukkah musical program.
We are grateful to the Gulkarov family, and in particular to their oldest son Abo, for their support, which enabled us to compile an archive of photographs documenting all of the activities that took place in the community.
Thanks to
Arkady Babaev's sponsorship, the raffle game was entertaining and engaging,
keeping everyone in attendance eager to win. Several families also funded a
large number of the items.
A huge
thank you goes out to Dr. Elena Davydova, who worked tirelessly as a volunteer
to coordinate communication with members of the community in order to get
things ready for the celebration.
We are
grateful to the many women who contributed to the excellent Hanukkah food
portion of the feast. A big debt of gratitude is also owed to Abo Mavashev, the
traditional pilaf expert, without whom no gathering of our community would be complete.
Thanks to all of these sponsors and to everyone who
took part in the holiday, we were able to celebrate together, have fun, and
keep our traditions alive.
