Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Cohort 3: Workshop 4

Last week, I had the privilege to meet and get to know many amazing people at Gidwitz. I have very little experience with talking to the elderly besides my grandparents, so walking in I was nervous of the impression I would make. We started off stuffing animals for children who might not be receiving gifts this holiday season. As we stuffed and helped each other with our animals, we had conversations with the residents about Hanukkah, Jewish identity, and their lives before living in Gidwitz. One of the women I talked to, Selma, said her favorite part of Hanukkah is lighting the candles and singing prayers each night. It was a time for everyone in her family to come together and focus on each other, rather than other stresses of the day. The best part of our conversation was Selma constantly giggling when she talked about her husband or "hubby", making everyone else at the table smile. Then the fellows left to discuss our experiences with different residents. After about an hour, we went back to the community area and lit the candles of the menorah for the eighth nigh of Hanukkah. My favorite part of the night was singing the Hanukkah prayers and songs with all of my friends from Diller and all of the residents that I had met. 

-Elly Qunell