Event Details - Thursday, December 13th ~2-4pm (eastern?)
~60 people will attend that will most likely be university staff
~ 30-minute presentation about Hanuka
A presentation will happen to showcase Kwanzaa
The event will take place during finals week
Holiday-related food will be served
The Shaily Hanuka Experience!
What I can do and why this needs to be done by me
Here are some of the possibilities we discussed for this session
These ideas will evolve and narrow closer to the event and as we discuss further
- My Jewish story - being raised by a Moroccan mom and an Iranian dad who left their countries because they were Jewish and why it was so important for my mom to fight to send me to a Jewish school.
- Is Judaism a religion?
- What do we eat/devour on Hanuka?
- What are the blessings like?
- What do we sing for the holiday? Singing that song.
- The difference between a Menorah and a Hanukia
- How to play dreidel and a possible chance to play a quick round as a group
- Reading a book or watching a short video on the holiday
- Hanuka playlist to be played at the event - Opening and between me and Kuanza - 3 songs
- Holiday Q&A
- Why I loved watching the Rugrats Hanuka Special
- What Chabad does for Hanuka - Hanuka Mobile and how I almost got in a car wreck because of it.
- How important is this holiday vs. others?
- Presents! and why I did not get any
- In what order do we light the candles
- How American Jews play out their Judaism
- How does one spell Hanuka? Hanukkah? Chanukah?
Why I am the person to do this
I am a trained and certified teacher, experienced public speaker, and have lead formal and informal Jewish education
Something you may not know is that over the past 3ish years, I offered a paid online service called "ask a Jewish person" and people from all different backgrounds asked me questions that they would be terrified to ask someone who was Jewish that they knew. Someone wanted to hear what I thought about Jesus and I told him what I thought and how the population generally thinks about it. Someone shared what I would have called antisemitic Jewish conspiracy theories with me and asked me what I knew. I offered him my thoughts and he appreciated it.
The moral of that experience is that I know how to make people comfortable and engaged while learning about new things, encouraging them to ask questions and share things they would normally not share with others.
Other experiences:
- 6 years of workshop facilitation
- Countless speaking engagement (look at my LinkedIn)
- Years of teaching at various Jewish day schools and synagogues
- Teaching since 2009 - K-6 certified
- I am a key member of ChiTribe.org
- Have been a speaker at various Jewish conferences
- Have staffed Jewish experiential trips
