Kids greet Hanukkah with Song
After the performance, the first candle on the menorah was lit.
By D.L. Stephenson
SPRINGFIELD- When the children in the First Light Hanukkah Spectacular took the stage at Sinai Temple last night, they each knew that the songs and skits they performed were more than a show.
"We're supposed to share, care about people and not argue," said Sara Berliner, 10, of Hampden, one of 25 children who performed in last night's show, "Shooby Doob Shloimy and the Shooby Doob Kids."
Organized by the Jewish Community Center on Dickinson Street, the performance, which ushered in Hanukkah yesterday, drew more than 150 people from area synagogues.
After the performance, the children and members of the audience went outside to light the first candle of the menorah, which will be moved next door to the Jewish Community Center today, said Rabbi H. Jonathan Perlman, director of Jewish education at the JCC.
Following religious tradition, on each of the eight nights of Hanukkah, an additional candle on the menorah will be lit, Perlman said.
Shooby Doob Shloimy, a charismatic character who loves children, is the brainchild of Mark Samowitz of Johanesburg, South Africa.
Samowitz will travel to five cities in the U.S. and Canada with his up-tempo, catchy songs and skits that teach children morals and values.
In each city, chidren who show interest in performing rehearse with Samowitz for a week before taking the stage. Yesterday's performance was the first on Samowitz's schedule. From Springfield, Samowitz heads to Dallas, where another 25 children will be waiting to rehearse and put on the show.
"It's really a unique concept to bring a performace like this one here," Perlman said of the show, which imparts the values of caring, sharing, and a sense of responsibility for others.
Perlman also said that there is a lot of pressure on the Jewish children to conform to the secular society in which they live.
It's important, he said, that they keep kosher and avoid going to work on the Sabbath, among other commandments, Perlman said.
Although a number of the children in yesterday's performance will receive gifts this Hanukkah, others will not celebrate the holiday with presents.
In fact the word "Hanukkah" means "rededication." In 167 BCE, Syrian Greeks destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. When Judah Maccabee, a Jewish warrior, led the defeat of the Greeks and reclaimed the Temple, he and his followers found there was only enough lamp oil to last a day. According to the legend, the oil lasted eight days. Hanukkah is celebrated to commemorate that miracle.