A happy Chabad Chanuka party

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Tomorrow is the 8th and final day of Chanuka.
But yesterday we got one last Chanuka party in -- the nice one offered by Chabad.
Grandsons Dean and Eyal made pretty sheltered candles.

 Then they moved on to another craft table.
The Meitar community center's gym was filled with tables full of art supplies and the nice Chabad young ladies helped the younger kids create what would later be needed in the shadow theater.

Luckily the grandkids were too busy to notice this  boy helping his mother spin cotton candy,  known in Hebrew as sa'arot savta, grandmother's hair.
I figured the sufganiot / jelly doughnuts distributed at the end of the party would be enough sweetness. 

Eyal and Dean got front row seats on the mats, the better to see Rabbi Shneur Kurtz light the chanukia candles and  to hear as he called the winning numbers in the raffle.

Then the lights dimmed and wondrous stories of light were read out, beginning with the creation of sun and moon.
All the kids who had made stars came behind the screen and waved their stars.
When the narrative turned to spinning dreidls, all the kids who had cut out dreidl silhouettes  came up.
And so on.

I was amazed by how, with only low-tech ways, the Chabadnikim created a warm atmosphere of true Chanuka celebration.
The kids and I loved it.
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