Dec. 25, 1959, to Jan. 2, 1960:
The students of the Hebrew Day School in Scranton had a busy Hanukkah.
To get ready for the holiday, the students decorated their classrooms with homemade menorahs, dreidels and Stars of David.
TIMES-SHAMROCK ARCHIVES Mindy Ganz and Benjamin Blatt, first-grade students at the Scranton Hebrew Day School, decorate their classroom with Hanukkah motifs, including a menorah, dreidel and Star of David, in December 1959. Hanukkah, aka the “Festival of Lights,” began on Dec. 25, 1959, at sunset.
The school’s choir, meanwhile, performed Hanukkah melodies and other Hebrew songs for various groups in the city, first at the Women’s Service Club meeting at the Jewish Community Center of Scranton on Dec. 14. It then sang at the Jewish Home, also in the city, at a party to celebrate Hanukkah and the December birthdays of the nursing home’s residents on Dec. 27.
The following day, the choir gave two more performances. It began at the annual Hanukkah party hosted by the JCC’s Golden Age Club at the center in the afternoon. That night, the choir sang at the meeting of the Sisterhood of the Penn-Monroe Synagogue at the temple’s Ben Kaufman Memorial Hall.
The students of the Hebrew Day School and the Talmud Torah were treated to a Hanukkah banquet at the JCC on Dec. 30. The Hebrew Day School’s Parent Teacher Association sponsored the gathering, and members of the school’s student council helped in the preparations. Student council President Allan Sicherman served as toastmaster, and Nat Dumoff entertained.
The Scranton Hebrew Day School opened on Sept. 8, 1948, at the Hebrew Orthodox Center at Madison Avenue and Vine Street. On opening day, the school had an enrollment of 70 students from nursery age to second grade.
Brian Fulton has been the librarian at The Times-Tribune for the past 15 years. On his blog, Historically Hip, he writes about the great concerts, plays/musicals and celebrity happenings that have taken place throughout NEPA. He is also the co-host of the local history podcast, Historically Hip. He competed and was crowned grand champion on an episode of NPR quiz show “Ask Me Another.” Contact: bfulton@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9140; or @TTPagesPast
