Mitzvah House Hosts Impactful Chanukah Events

As the holiday began, Mitzvah House was prepared for another year of Chanukah events. They held their first, a children’s story reading at the newly opened Prelude Bookstore in Dunwoody Village on the Friday just before the first holiday weekend. But as the weekend started, it began to look as if these plans would be upended.

“Last night, we saw the weather, that it was going to be freezing, and we were already nervous, and then this morning we were like, ‘I wish it was only the weather we were worried about and nothing else,’” said Chaya Goldberg, one of the Mitzvah House founders who organized the event, referring to the shooting at Bondi Beach in Australia. “As the day went on, the cancellations kept coming in from our vendors and from our volunteers and from people that were worried.”

Still, a strong crowd of more than a hundred showed at their event at Ashford Lane, celebrating the start of Chanukah in defiance of antisemitism, though dressed with deference to the bitter cold.

Between gathering around some small fires and heat lamps for warmth, visitors partook of sufganiyot and other holiday foods, while kids had visits with Elsa and Olaf from “Frozen,” got face paint, and took to a giant pile of Legos to make menorahs. Several vendors remained, including a local writer selling and signing Chanukah books for kids. All of it paused partway through for a wonderful, impactful menorah lighting.

“It was beautiful, thank G-d,” said Yehuda Robbins, a Mitzvah House volunteer who was helping people wrap tefillin. “We had lots of people, a beautiful turnout. We had lots of people do tefillin, lots of mitzvahs, saw lots of beautiful Jews.”

“I really enjoyed the event,” said one attendee, Rebecca Stoil. “I think it’s so important in light of the events in Australia for everybody to come out and enjoy Chanukah whether they’re Jewish or not. It’s the best way of showing there is no room in our community or any community for intolerance or antisemitism.”

“To come here today and see so many people show up despite the cold, despite the hate in the world, has been really powerful to see,” said Goldberg.

The Mitzvah House’s event the following Tuesday at Dunwoody Village was even larger, and this time they were joined by many community members, including the Dekalb Fire Department, who handed out chocolate gelt, the Dunwoody High School band, playing beautiful Chanukah music, and Mayor Lynn Deutsch and other City Council members, who spoke in support of the Jewish community. Like the event on Sunday, there were many activities to participate in, including face painting, a balloon artist, a game truck, decorating donuts, making your own dreidels, and decorating other Chanukah crafts. Warm soup was served, and again, all activities paused for a menorah lighting for the third night of the holiday.

“It was a beautiful show of support, and lots of people came, including many college students and high school students,” said a Mitzvah House representative, “It was really powerful to see so many people of all ages show up and show their Jewish pride at this beautiful menorah lighting.”

“Honestly, sometimes you look at the world and can think ‘I’m just going to hide away,’ and to be able to tap into that spark and say, ‘no, I’m going to show up louder and prouder,’ and to see everybody else have that energy, is really a powerful thing,” said Goldberg. “Light is catchy. If you light a fire, it just lights another fire and lights another fire, so each one of the people that came today are going to be able to affect the whole surroundings around them for light and for good. So honestly, it was a powerful evening.”