Rabbi Simcha Backman holds a Traditional Menorah while his daughter, 2-year-old Chaya, holds a Menorah made of bullet shells, which he is making for a Menorah workshop.

CREATING PEACEFUL MEMORIES
Children to use bullet shells in menorah workshop at Glendale Central Library

Friday, December 15, 2000

Judy Seckler NEWS-PRESS /Los Angeles Times

THORNYCROFT -While the Christmas tree becomes an important symbol of the holidays for Christians, so does the menorah during Hanukkah for the Jewish community.

Rabbi Simcha Backman of Chabad of Glendale and the Foothill Communities will lead a "bullet-shell" arts and crafts menorah workshop at 1:30 p.m. Sunday to give children a different holiday memory.

During the class, bullets - a symbol of warfare and oppression -will be used to create a menorah, which is a symbol of peace and freedom, the rabbi explained.

Bullet shells from the local police station are' donated free of charge, and the gun- powder is removed. Holes are drilled into ceramic tiles before the workshop.

Then, the bullets are screwed into the ceramic tiles. Each child assembles a menorah during the work- shop.

"Hands-on projects are the things children really remember for years to come," Backman said.

"You can talk for days on a subject, but it doesn't have as much impact as an art project made by hand."

The menorah represents an integral part of the Hanukkah story.

In 168 BC, the Syrian Greeks attacked the Jewish people in Israel and destroyed their temple.

According to the Hebrew faith, after Jewish rebels overthrew the Syrian soldiers in 165 BC, the Jewish people could find only one jug of the special olive oil that was used to light the menorah every day.

The jug had enough oil to last only a day. New oil could only be manufactured in eight days. The miracle that occurred was that one jug lasted for eight days.

Each year at Hanukkah, Jews around the world celebrate this miracle.

Past News Articles

Monday December 6, 1999 CELEBRATION OF LIGHTS DOWNTOWN-Even though Rabbi Simcha Backman settled into Glendale this week, he already felt right at home with the city's Jewish community Sunday at the lighting of the giant Menorah at the Glendale Galleria.

Friday, December 29, 2000 LIGHT OF PEACE Rabbi Simcha Backman of The Chabad Congregation of Glendale and the Foothill Communities led a ceremony to acknowledge the last night of Hanukkah, which took place at 5 p.m. Thursday on the lower level of the Glendale Galleria.