Chanukah in Carefree
Nightly Menorah Lighting
December 25, 2024 – January 1, 2025 | 5:30pm
at the Sanderson Lincoln Pavilion
in Carefree, Arizona
This is an outdoor event with enhanced security measures in place.
We are also LIVE streaming on selected nights. Please use the links provided below to LIVE STREAM on a specific night, or to view the recording of the event afterwards.
Expenses for the Chanukah in Carefree (CIC) eight-night event have increased over the years as we strive to make this event safe and more successful for the community. We welcome donations to help us with these expenses and thank you for your consideration. Spirit in the Desert has generously offered to handle all the finance management for Chanukah in Carefree, at no cost. Donations for expenses can be received online at www.SpiritintheDesert.org. You can also get to their website by clicking on the DONATE NOW link to the left.
Please make sure to note Chanukah in Carefree expenses, as the designated recipient of your donation on the online details. Spirit in the Desert can provide receipts on all donations received.
Chanukah Events Calendar and LIVE Stream Links
Tuesday, December 31st
5:30pm MST
7th NIGHT
DESERT FOOTHILLS JEWISH COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
Enjoy a special Chanukah celebration bringing in the new year
Have a toast with sparkling cider and
enjoy delicious Sufganiyot and other
traditional treats
Wednesday, January 1st
5:30pm MST
8th NIGHT
COMMUNITY NIGHT:
Carefree Cave Creek
Chamber of Commerce
Celebrate with your community
on the last night of Chanukah and
the first day of the New Year
delicious Potato Pancakes (Latkes) and
other traditional sweet treats.
Chanukah in Carefree
Event Details
Sheryl Greenspan will lead this evening of meaningful readings, holiday singing lead by a local Cantor, and fun entertainment by a talented local ventriloquist. This wonderful evening promises to be rich for the soul and tasty for your stomach as you enjoy local, homemade and traditional Chanukah treats.
This evening of music will feature Cantor Ross Wolman & the Temple Chai Adult Choir. There will be a mix of classics and new tunes, so please join us for singing and frelich fun! Also enjoy a Jewish “Christmas” tradition of eating Chinese Food, which will be generously provided by Jade Palace.
Temple Kol Ami’s Rabbi and Cantor will be leading a beautiful Chanukah Shabbat with their Congregational band and the Bauman family, who have been involved with Chanukah in Carefree since this event started in 2017. Please come, enjoy and participate in a traditional Shabbat ceremony on this third night of Chanukah with the whole community. Please also enjoy delicious sufganiyot and other Chanukah treats.
Rabbi Bonnie Sharfman will conduct the closing ceremony of Shabbat (Havdalah) on the 4th night of Chanukah. Along with cantorial soloist Erica Erman, Rabbi will lead us in a joyful, family friendly sing-along not to be missed! We will be enjoying sufganiyot and other delicious Chanukah treats.
Our original speaker, Jack Adler, suffered from a recent fall. We wish him a speedy and full recovery. Risa Stillman will be taking his place this evening.
Rise was the fourth child in a family of six children. She was born in Velke Komyaty, Czechoslovakia. In 1942, Rise and her cousins were taken by SS officers to a ghetto. Rise would not see most of her immediate family again. In 1944, Rise and her family were packed into cattle cars. When the train stopped at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, she was separated from her relatives and never saw them again. At Auschwitz, her hair was shorn, a number was tattooed on her arm, and she was given a prison uniform. Shortly afterwards she was selected to dig trenches in Krakow. In October 1944, she was taken to Bergen Belsen to work in a potato field, where taking a potato could mean death. One of Rise’s last assignments was working in an underground munitions factory in a salt mine. After liberation in May 1945, Rise was taken to Sweden to recuperate. In 1948, she was able to emigrate to the U.S., where she moved to Ohio, married an American, and had a son. After her husband died, Rise moved to Arizona to be closer to her son. It is only recently that Rise has begun to tell her story of survival during the Holocaust. We want to thank Rise for sharing her story with our community!
Erez Kessler will be leading this evening for The Valley of the Sun JCC and Center for Jewish Philanthropy (CJP). We will have music, games, activities, and arts and crafts for the children in the community to enjoy. Delicious holiday cookies, sufganiyot and hot chocolate will also be served.
President Carol Consalvo invites the community to a special Chanukah celebration bringing in the new year. Enjoy some music, readings and sip on some Sparkling Cider before celebrating your New Years Eve in your special way.
Come ring in the new year on the last night of Chanukah and the first day of the calendar year with the Carefree Cave Creek Chamber of Commerce. Support your local businesses and celebrate our wonderful community. Stroll from booth to booth and get to know local Cave Creek and Carefree small businesses who make our community so great! A percentage of proceeds from this evening will be donated to the Foothills Food Bank and Resource Center. It’s a great way to support our community, celebrate the new year and help us light up the last night of Chanukah. Sweet treats, delicious Potato Pancakes (latkes) and Sparkling cider also awaits all our guests. Please also come this evening to witness the drawing of the biggest raffle prizes, benefiting the Foothills Food Bank on this last night of Chanukah, including an Antigua trip being donated by the Carefree Cave Creek Chamber of Commerce.