More than a thousand people of different ages and Jewish denominations filled the amphitheater of The Shops at Boca Center with Hanukkah joy for a community celebration on the third night of the festival of lights.
This annual community Hanukkah celebration, presented by PJ Library-South Palm Beach County and PJ Our Way, included a menorah candle lighting that featured participation from Conservative, Orthodox and Reform rabbis from throughout the South Palm Beach area, live music, crafts and story time. The event involved Jewish organizations from the area as well.
Elana Ostroff, director for PJ Library-South Palm Beach County, thought the turnout was “amazing” considering there was approximately 45 minutes of downpour rain. Ostroff called the event a “beautiful community celebration.”
“It’s an amazing event because we bring out the rabbis from all the denominations in our community and everyone comes together.”
Rabbi Robert Silvers of the Reform synagogue Congregation B’nai Israel in Boca Raton who participated in the menorah lighting, said, “I enjoy seeing my Conservative rabbi colleagues and my Orthodox rabbi colleagues.”
“There are only a few times during the year when we really get the chance to be together on happy occasions such as this community Hanukkah celebration, a Purim carnival and a celebration of Israel on Yom Ha’atzmaut [Israel Independence Day]. Otherwise, we usually find ourselves together at a vigil because something terrible has happened and we have to come together to be supportive.”
Silvers continued, “This event is nice because you get to be with everybody in a season of joy and celebration, and we enjoy each other’s company.”
Rabbi David Baum of the Conservative synagogue Congregation Shaarei Kodesh in Boca Raton, said at the event, “This is a tremendous show of unity, and I’m proud that the rabbis of this community can be the model for everyone here.”
The candle lighting also included participation from Rabbis David Englander, Yaakov Gibber, Efrem Goldberg, Arele Gopin, Rony Keller, Ali Cohen and Greg Weisman.
Rabbi Josh Broide, a Modern Orthodox who is the director of the Deborah & Larry D. Silver Center for Jewish Engagement, a division of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, facilitated the candle lighting. Broide noted that while having different denominations come together at an event may be a massive deal for some communities, he continued that it’s something the South Palm Jewish community does all the time.
“That’s the type of community this is,” he noted. “It’s important for us to demonstrate publicly to people who have never seen us assembled together to make sure that not only do they see this and not only do they take a photo of it, but that they also share it on social media, so their friends in other parts of the country can see what we do here in Boca Raton.”
Broide also played drums during the event alongside Lenny Solomon from the band Shlock Rock, which is best known for educating and entertaining through parodies that swap Jewish-themed lyrics into popular secular songs for all ages.
“I’ve been a drummer for more than 30 years, but I don’t get to play that much because as a rabbi in the community, I’m very busy, so having the chance to play on stage with someone I grew up listening to is a dream come true, because he’s such a great musician who has inspired so many children and communities all over the world.”
Solomon enjoyed the energy from the crowd.
“This is a fantastic community as every denomination was here at this event, and it’s the model community for the entire world. We should all get along like this.”
Shira Sharp of Boca Raton, who took her two children, ages 15 and 11, to the celebration, said, “I’ve been a Shlock Rock fan since I was 10 years old, so I was happy to bring my kids out here, and I love that my kids get to see kids from different parts of the community.”