Handmade
Continued from Page 44
Jennifer Wankoff
Jennifer Wankoff, who teaches
at Main Line Art Center, Perkins
Center for the Arts and The Clay Studio,
and owns her eponymous studio, spends
months getting her Chanukah wares fired up.

iday, begins to return on the fifth and is only in full balance on the
eighth night — when light has begun to return to the Earth.

Walton told the Jewish Exponent that most Jewish holidays have
both agrarian and historical roots. She said many people associate
Chanukah with the Maccabees, but the Earth-based portion is often
overlooked. Chanukah falls over the new moon closest to the winter
solstice — the time when the least light is reaching the Earth in the
northern hemisphere.

“With the world plunged into darkness, how frightening a time
this must have been for our ancient ancestors,” Walton exclaimed.

“It is no accident that almost every culture in this half of the world
starts lighting flames at this time of year.”
Menorahs and dreidels at the Mud Room in Ardmore range from
$14 to $25. Someone can design it, paint the item, leave it there to
be glazed and fired, and pick it up in less than a week.

Andrea Tirnauer, owner of the Mud Room, said parents and chil-
dren enjoy making things together and kids love to be creative and
get messy.

“Painting pottery lends to both of those areas,” she said. “The other
positive part of the project is what feelings the kids and families share
when they bring the menorah out and light the candles year after year.”
The Mud Room is partnering with about 60 kids with a youth
group from Lower Merion Synagogue, where they will be doing a
hot chocolate mug-painting project.

In the past, the Mud Room has worked with several of the Main
Line synagogues and helped with youth groups, Chanukah parties
46 NOVEMBER 19, 2015
Parents and children enjoy making
things together and kids love to be creative
and get messy.”
ANDREA TIRNAUER, OWNER OF THE MUD ROOM
and added family activities to Friday evening services. This past spring,
it worked closely with the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of
Greater Philadelphia to prepare flower vases for Holocaust victims.

“As you can see, the bigger picture is much more than painting
pottery as an art project,” Tirnauer said. “The pieces both made and
received will hold a special place in many hearts and that is what
means the most to me.”
Jacques Dahan, president of Michel Cluziel in West Berlin, N.J.,
said the companies’ new 3-D chocolate menorah is already a big hit.

So far, 600 have been ordered, but it can take up to an hour to make
one because of the intricacy of the meringue candles.

“This one is really beautiful,” Zahan said.

The menorah, which is kosher and pareve, has an interesting
backstory, Dahan explained. When his family moved to America
20 years ago from France, his children attended Kellman Brown
Academy in Voorhees Township, N.J., and he and his wife, Laura,
made chocolate menorahs for the teachers.

The confections became a big hit not just in the community, but
WINTER HOLIDAY GUIDE
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



nationwide. The issue was making the candles removable. His cre-
ative mind kept churning and last year, he asked a friend in France
to design an even better menorah.

“We didn’t realize all the changes that we needed to do as well as
preparing everything,” Dahan said. “Sometimes people don’t realize
it takes a lot of time to make.”
One of the most acclaimed dounut shops in Philly will have de-
licious treats for the holiday. Federal Donuts chef Matthew Fein ex-
plained that traditional sufganiyot are yeast-raised donuts, filled
with grape jelly and covered in powdered sugar. However, since Fed-
eral Donuts doesn’t make those, it wanted to find a fun way to offer
a version of sufganiyot using their spiced cake donuts.

“Being that we try to do things out of the norm, we decided to
dip the donuts in honey, rather than cover them in powdered sugar,
and we used a very high-quality raspberry jam instead of the tradi-
tional grape jelly,” Fein said.

At Perelman Jewish Day School’s Forman Center in Melrose Park,
students make various types of menorahs, integrating art, science,
engineering and Jewish studies.

In the younger grades, students make a symbolic chanukiah —
one that is not functional. In Jewish Studies class, children learn
what it means for a menorah to be considered kosher. They create
papier mâché chanukiyot from the tops of egg cartons, using Popsicle
sticks for candles.

Third-graders integrate STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineer-
ing, Art and Math) curriculum into the design process. Students
create a menorah using recycled bottles, aluminum tins, plastic trays
and cups, battery-operated lights, pipes, tubing and other materials.

In fourth grade, they learn about texture and start with a wood
base and use a crinkled tissue paper technique with paint and oil
pastels to create their chanukiyot. Fifth-graders work with clay to
create their own special designs.

At Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in Bryn Mawr, highlights
of the Chanukah celebration include daily candle lightings and an
assembly led by student leaders, who are known as the JLI (Jewish
Leadership Initiative).

“With six school days this year, we may also try something new
involving dedicating each of the six days to each one of our six
derech eretz pledge values of honor, honesty, humility, community,
fellowship and modesty,” said Rabbi Judd Kruger Levingston, di-
rector of Jewish Studies at the school.

“We will connect themes in the Chanukah story and celebration
to themes in the six derech eretz values.”
At Temple Judea preschool in Furlong, there is a school-wide
gathering, where family members are invited to hear the children
sing Chanukah songs and the staff performs a play telling the
story of Chanukah. This is followed by lunch with latkes, jelly
donuts and gelt.

“We love when we are actually in school during the holiday, as
we will be this year, rather than the holiday coinciding with our win-
ter break,” said Preschool director Sheryl Milstein.

Throughout the week, a menorah is lit in every classroom each
morning, giving the children a chance to hear the prayers. Some of
the children learn about making oil from olives and have a chance
to give it a try. A couple of weeks before the holiday, the Parent As-
sociation also holds a Chanukah Secret Shop.

“I love the fact that in this small way, the children are beginning
to learn to give and not just to receive,” Milstein said. “Although we
know that Chanukah is certainly not the most important holiday
on the calendar, to preschoolers, it would be hard to find something
to top it.” l
At Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in Bryn Mawr, highlights of
the Chanukah celebration include daily candle lightings and an
assembly led by student leaders, who are known as the JLI
(Jewish Leadership Initiative).

The Federal Donuts spin on sufganiyot includes a honey bath
before raspberry preserves can crown spiced cake donuts.

Contact: jcohen@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0747
JewIsHexponenT.CoM WINTER HOLIDAY GUIDE
noVeMBeR 19, 2015
47