By Charlene Riegger
Director of Marketing

Did you ever see words put together that don’t seem to fit? I don’t mean an oxymoron. The words I’m getting to aren’t exactly opposites. But reading them together makes you do a double take: Chanukah hoedown.

Chanukah evokes menorahs, dreidels, latkes, and sufganiyot (donuts). Surely not hoedown. But the co-chairs for this year’s Women’s Philanthropy holiday celebration—Tracy Sussman, Kimberly Valuntas, and Amy Oselkin—along with Lauren Rabin, president of the Jewish Federation Women’s Philanthropy, shook things up by deciding to host a Chanukah hoedown at the JCC on December 10.

In recent years, the women have paired the fun holiday event with a mitzvah project. This year, they purchased battery-operated menorahs for Jewish Family Service to deliver to recipients of its Chanukah Mazel Meals. Chelsea Karp, the new executive director of JFS, spoke at length about the assistance JFS provides to various clients, such as counseling, food pantry, social services, and older adult services. Karp has personally seen and heard the difference that JFS makes in people’s lives. She ended by thanking Women’s Philanthropy for literally and figuratively lighting up Chanukah for Mazel Meals recipients.

Jeri Zimmerman, the Federation’s executive director, presented Dr. Lynn Wilson with her Women’s Philanthropy Pomegranate pin. She thanked Wilson for her strong support of the Federation as a Pomegranate and a member of the Maimonides Society of healthcare professionals. 

After some schmoozing and refreshments, the party started hopping, with Alan Raisman at the mic providing step-by-step instructions for two different 32-step line dances. Raisman explained that many line dances use the same 50 dance moves. So if you learn all of those, you can easily pick up any dance. Elaine Langer, who line dances every other week, mentioned that the moves can be found on You Tube for anyone interested in learning more. 

As Raisman played pop tunes for the group, he explained that while line dancing started with country music, it’s now frequently done to pop. The women did the fairly complicated dance to Shaboozy’s “Bar Song,” which was a big hit. In the spirit of Chanukah, Raisman worked “I Have a Little Dreidel” into a song swap dance (done to a rotation of songs). 

After some shaky starts and much laughter, the women picked up the dances beautifully and most were moving in unison like professionals. Of course, there were shouts of “Yeehaw!” and a few mistakes that brought more laughter. As the women took a water break, Raisman pointed out that line dancing is a great low-impact workout. 

In the end, it seems Chanukah and hoedown do go together, as all the women lit up the dance floor with their bright sparkle and hearty laughter while they lit up Chanukah for Mazel Meals recipients.

To learn more about Women’s Philanthropy, contact Lee Kestercher Solomon at [email protected] or call 610-821-5500.