Chanukah on the Eastside

2026 E. 1st Street,Los Angeles CA 90033

05 December, 2021

Description

Celebrate the biggest night of Chanukah with the BOYLE HEIGHTS CHAVURAH - the grassroots Jewish fellowship of East Los Angeles. FREE EVENT! The BOYLE HEIGHTS CHAVURAH – the grassroots Jewish community of East Los Angeles – is opening up our doors to the entire community to share the brightness of the holiday of Chanukah with the people of our community with this FREE EVENT. Boyle Heights during the first half of the 20th century was the main center of Jewish life on the west coast, growing up in the midst of a unique barrio community. Today a small remnant of us Jewish people remain and are often joined by our Latino neighbors of various faith traditions to keep the spirit and Jewish culture of this unique immigrant, working-class community alive for yet another generation. Join us for the grand eighth night of Chanukah, when the joy of the holiday reaches it’s fullness; on Sunday, December 5, 2021 at 7pm. We will be lighting a grand olive oil community menorah, and also inviting everyone to bring out their own Chanukah candles to light up the cold and darkness of the winter months with the joy of our collective festival lights. We will be sharing foods pot-luck style. We will sharing traditional Jewish foods for the holidays from diverse Jewish traditions; items fried in oil, in remembrance of the miracle of the menorah oil. These festive treats come in many forms: • Sufganiyot – rich jelly and thick dough-nuts; the seasonal treat that takes center stage in the Holy Land during Chanukah. • Sfeng – North Africa-style yeasty and fluffy dough-nuts which are covered in a sweet syrup. • Buñuelos – one of the most common of Sephardic Jewish treats for this festival; their origins are from Spain and North Africa; in our neighborhood we make Mexican style fried dough, crispy and flat and covered in spiced piloncillo syrup. Interestingly, this is also one of the traditional festival treats for Christmas in the Mexican American tradition as well. • Potato latkes – potato pancakes are the quintessential Ashkenazi Jewish dish during Chanukah; once made out of cheese curds or chestnuts before the introduction to the Native American potato into the Eastern European diet, we are going to learn about the evolution of these crispy potato pancakes that are simply irresistible. They go great with applesauce and sour cream! As always we are going to learn to celebrate various cultural traditions through exploring new foods and highlighting shared flavors. WANT TO BRING SOMETHING TO SHARE? Our event will be pot-luck and kosher-style, keeping a dairy menu (absolutely no meat items please!); so that all members of our community of various levels of observance might be included in this festival meal. Soft drinks, beer and wine are always welcomed and enjoyed. The liturgy will be lead in Hebrew, Spanish and English, lead by Shmuel Gonzales the Barrio Boychik, community organizer and founder of The Boyle Heights Chavurah and our very own Rabbi Robin Podolsky. LOCATION: BOYLE HEIGHTS HISTORY STUDIOS AND TOURS, 2026 E. FIRST STREET, LOS ANGELES, CA 90033. PARKING: The best parking is located on Cummings Street, just a block away and with a lot of parking spots along the side of the freeway. PUBLIC TRANSIT: We are conveniently located right in between Mariachi Plaza and Soto Station, equal distance from each. You can also come from downtown taking the MTA bus 30 and exiting at Cummings Street. --- This event is sponsored by Barrio Boychik and The Boyle Heights Chavurah --- *** Donations to support the sustainability of this community space are encouraged but not required. We also greatly appreciate volunteers for set-up/clean-up on the day of our event. For those who wish to assist with cooking, we will start at around 5pm; do contact us if you wish to cook or bring a dish for our meal so we can coordinate the menu with you. *** TO RSVP OR FOR QUESTIONS, EMAIL THE ORGANIZER: [email protected]. TO RSVP PLEASE CLICK: "Tickets". You may DONATE any amount to reserve. For those who are unable to donate, please contact us for a promo-code for free tickets; we want everyone in the community to be able to participate, regardless of their ability to donate; no one will be turned away. However, we do want to give people the opportunity to donate at the time of reserving; as this supports our project and also greatly encourages people to attend the event they are reserving for.