Nine members, including Rabbi Sharon Young Marcus of Cleveland's Park Synagogue Rosh Chodesh Pen Pal Group celebrated Chanukah with their Israeli Jewish Agency Partnership 2000 pen pals from Beit Shean via a lively video conference.  Rabbi Marcus led a fascinating discussion on Judith. Each pen pal shared her traditions and stories that made the celebration of the holiday special. Svetlana Alterman showed a special brass menorah that a non-Jewish customer gave her.  It had been given to the customer by her Jewish best friend before she died with the request to find someone who would care for and appreciate the menorah. Svetlana cherishes the menorah as it had survived the Holocaust. 

To conclude the hour, Chanukah songs were sung and a Beit Shean pen pal emotionally expressed in a prayer, how much it meant to them to know that their American friends cared and would always be there for them.  Sharon Eichenbaum and Nora Myers were responsible for the planning on the Cleveland side, and Nancy Slotnick, Vicki Stahl and Maya Zgury on the Beit Shean side. Other Cleveland participants included: Judi Greenspan, Lorie Potash, Sally Levine, Amy Budish, and Shelly Fishbach.

made possible by the Jewish Agency/Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland's Partnership 2000 project with guidance by Julie Auerbach and Zvia Shelley.