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During this time of grief and heartbreak, we will gather as a community on Zoom to kindle the lights of Hanukkah together, seeking comfort, strength, and hope in each other’s presence and in our shared sense of purpose. Hanukkah reminds us that we are all lamplighters; for a few minutes each weeknight of Hanukkah, join us as come together to dispel the darkness and shine a little more light into our world.
6 Weeknights. 6 Kavanot for light in a time of darkness.
5-5:10 p.m. EST | Zoom | View previous candlelightings
tonight’s HOSTS:
Dr. Susie Tanchel & Rabbi Sam Pollak
Dr. Susie Tanchel, Hebrew College Vice President, and Rabbi Sam Pollak, Director of Congregational Learning at Kerem Shalom in Concord, MA, will reflect on the hope they find through teaching as we kindle the lights of the sixth night of Hanukkah.
Dr. Susie Tanchel joined Hebrew College in the summer of 2020, after serving as the head of school at JCDS, Boston’s Jewish Community Day School.
During her nine-year tenure at JCDS, Tanchel was an accomplished and deeply beloved leader, guiding the school to preeminence as a national model of excellence in pluralistic Jewish education, and creatively embodying its abiding commitments to community, centrality of Hebrew language, and teaching the whole child.
She was a recipient of the 2018 Covenant Award for Jewish Educators.
Rabbi Sam Pollack, who joined Kerem Shalom in July 2020, received a BA in philosophy and comparative religion, at The Ohio State University, where he held leadership positions at Hillel and sang in a Jewish a cappella group. He attended Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion where he received a MA in Hebrew Letters and was ordained as a rabbi in 2017.
He most recently served for three years as one of the rabbis at The Community Synagogue in Port Washington, New York, where his responsibilities included teaching religious school classes and Torah study; leading early childhood classes; establishing an adult education initiative; creating a group to guide interfaith families; serving on a newly formed inclusion committee; and officiating life cycle events. During his rabbinic studies, Sam worked at a number of small congregations in the Midwest.
“I am thrilled to be joining the Kerem Shalom community, and I am inspired by how the congregation and the Hebrew School emphasize joyful, inclusive Jewish life,” shares Rabbi Sam. “I look forward to meeting everyone and working toward that vision together.
He was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, and lives in the Greater Boston area with his husband, Rabbi Ari Abelman, who grew up in Lexington, MA.