Submission #309 by Agudath Israel Men's Club - Caldwell, NJ (963)

I have read the General Guidelines, "Nuts and Bolts" and Program Advanced Planning (Excel Spreadsheet) Documents
Club Name
Agudath Israel Men's Club - Caldwell, NJ (963)
Latke Making with the Religious School
Club Representative
Person completing form
Adam
Shandler
Club President at time of Convention
Steve
Jacobs
Club President Now
Steve
Jacobs
Youth Programming

Page 1

In the past, the Men's Club and Sunday Religious School had done very few programs together. This program brought the two organizations together for a meaningful, hands-on activity: Latke-making at Hanukkah. While the event was certainly fun, it got the kids out of the classroom, taught responsibility, and gave every student a sense of accomplishment. The timing of the event was also important. It occured on the last day of Hanukkah, when thoughts of and participation in the holiday tend to dwindle.

As Hanukkah is a giving holiday, we also organized a food drive to coincide with this event. Local food pantry inventories were running low, especially in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, and this food drive proved to be timely.
The Men's Club purchased all of the ingredients necessary for latke making, from the potatoes (lots of potatoes!) to the onions, the oil and all the tools involved.

We set up stations for:
1. Potato peeling
2. Potato mashing
3. Onion dicing
4. Latke cooking

Each stations was manned by a Men's Club Member who taught their group had to perform their respective task safely and correctly. Once students experienced the first three stations they were directed to one of five cooking stations, where a Men's Club member safely cooked up the latkes and presented the finished products to students.

There were five separate streams of religious school students that participated in this event, which was held in CAI's multi-purpose room.

Hanukkah songs were sung while the groups feasted on their latkes.

A box for the food drive was set up outside of the multi-purpose room.

Page 2

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Self Assessment
This event made Men's Club more relevant to yet another pillar of the CAI community - the religious school. The religious school is a focal point of CAI's brand. The level of involvement in CAI activities among the students' parents varies along the spectrum. So, a collaborative event such as this put Men's Club in a supportive and education light -- two very important values to our congregational community.
While a minor holiday, Hankkah is an important one. It's rich in history and tradition. By having the CAI Men's Club develop a very hands-on activity that enables those traditions among the youth of our congregation we supported all the tenets of FJMC:

Leadership - connecting the youth of our synagogue with the traditions of the holiday.

Innovation - not just a lecture, but a fun, hands-on approach to celebrating Hanukkah.

Community -Young, old, and everyone in-between were included in this program. Two very active and respected organizations collaborated on this event: our award-winning education program and our award-winning Men's Club.
Original Program
Previous Submission
Yes