by Brandy Quach (Class of 2018)

Celebrating the fourth night of Hanukkah on December 5th, 2018 at the Kol Ha’emek Jewish Community in Redwood Valley, the students of Developing Virtue Girls School gathered with the local community to light the menorah and enjoy a couple of traditional latkes. The juniors and seniors of the world religion class has recently finished their unit in Judaism and were excited to partake in this cultural field trip.

Gathered in a cozy room, everyone came together to sing traditional prayers and songs. From “This Little Light of Min” to “The Dreidel Song”, everyone joined in to coin new verses and listen to the strum of guitars and ukulele filling the room. The students sang songs in Yiddish, Hebrew, English, and a combination between Hebrew and Spanish. Afterwards, everyone formed a human network and blessed the bread and the wine, or in some cases, grape juice.

Later everyone sat down together to eat homemade latkes, fried noodles, Israeli treats, and many more delicious foods. Stuffed to the brim, the juniors and seniors witnessed the opening of the Ark and saw the Torah.

Preparing to leave, the juniors and seniors were grateful for the generosity and hospitality of the Jewish community and the rabbi. Shabbat Shalom!