A beautiful drawing of a Hanukkah menorah was the unanimous choice of the judges in the 19th annual Hanukkah Art Contest, sponsored by the Chabad House Center and The Chronicle. The Hanukkiah was drawn by Molly Levinson, the daughter of Jennifer Levinson and Scott Levinson. Molly is an eighth-grade student at Prairie Star Middle School and a member of Congregation Beth Torah. She will be presented with a grand prize of a Motion Sensor Scooter by Chabad House.
On choosing Molly’s Hanukkiah, the judges noted that the drawing “comes to life with very fluid motion.” {mprestriction ids="1,3"}They were impressed by the vibrant colors and felt Molly “shows a lot of creative artistic ability.”
Molly entered the contest after discussing it with her friend Sam Fine, a previous grand-prize winner who entered a mitzvah-inspired oil-filled modern Hanukkiah. Molly said she studied a variety of Hanukkah art pieces before she began her award-winning drawing. She used pastel chalk on this piece, but also enjoys doodling and drawing with pencil on paper.
“The theme of my Bat Mitzvah was actually art,” she said when she was informed she won the grand prize this year.
Right now art is a hobby for Molly, but she says some members of her family have suggested she consider it a career down the line.
Although the number of entries this year was small, the judges were impressed with their quality. For the first time the contest was expanded to include categories in writing and photography/graphic design. However there were no entries in the photography/graphic design category.
The first prize winner in the art category, for the second consecutive year, was Eli Maker, a fourth-grade student in Congregation Beth Torah’s Weiner Religious School. He is the son of Stephanie Kolb and Josh Maker and submitted a Royals championship entry.
“This was totally appropriate for this year,” the judges commented about the Royals-themed entry. “It ties together the Royals victory and what Hanukkah is all about. Like the royals, the Jews never stopped believing that the menorah will shine. They believed that they would do their part and G-d would do his.”
The writing division was added to give entrants a different form of artistic expression. Etty Sosover, a fifth-grade student at Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy and the daughter of Chanie and Rabbi Berel Sosover, was the first-prize winner in the writing category. She wrote “Chanukah Poem” (appearing in the box above).
“The rhyme is good and this poem covers the whole story of Hanukkah,” the judges said.
First-prize winners received gift cards courtesy of Chabad House.
The judges also commented on Sam Fine’s honorable mention.
“It looks beautiful when it’s lit and you can tell a lot of thought went into making each night special,” they commented. Titled “Reflections of Chanukah” this was presented with the Hanukkiah:
“Night One is for mitzvot and doing good deeds
Night Two is for tzedakah and helping others in need
Night Three is for the religious freedom fights
Night Four is for the miracle of the oil lasting eight nights
Night Five is for the study of Torah and learning our story
Night Six is for being with G-d in all his glory
Night Seven is for the Temple and it’s rededication
Night Eight is for our wonderful family celebration!”
All students who entered the contest are encouraged to attend, free of charge, Chanukah on The Ice on Sunday, Dec. 6.
The following is a list of students who entered this year’s Hanukkah Art Contest:
Grand Prize winner: Molly Levinson
First Prize – Art: Eli Maker
First Prize – Writing: Etty Sosover
Honorable Mentions:
Samuel Wilson Fine
Annie Fingersh
Evie Fried
Baruch Chaim Mazer
Menachem Sosover
Sroly Sosover
Editor’s note: It is widely known that there is no perfect English spelling for the Hebrew word Hanukkah. While The Chronicle style is to spell it Hanukkah, in this article we chose to keep the spelling the artist or writer used in her or his contest entry.
Chanukah Poem
By Etty Sosover
Chanukah is a special day,
We won against the Greeks, hooray!
The leader of the Jews was who?
It was Matisyahu!
The miracle of the menorah lasted eight days,
We celebrate in so many ways.
Eight days of Chanukah we celebrate,
25th of Kislev is the beginning date.
We eat foods with oil in it,
And watch the candles while they’re lit.
To light the menorah the shamash we use,
That is what we do as Jews.
We play dreidel: nun, gimmel, hay, shin,
Hope for a gimmel so you can win.
In Israel they say nun, gimmel, hay, peh,
That is the way that they play.
Chanukah is so much fun,
That is why it is a favorite for some.
Chanukah on The Ice
Once again Chabad House will be sponsoring Chanukah on The Ice at The Ice at Park Place. The event begins at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6. Admission is free; skating is $11 with skate rental, $8 if skaters bring their own skates.
The late afternoon of holiday fun will including skating to Chanukah tunes, fresh sufganiyot (jelly donuts), hot cocoa and, of course, the lighting of the first candle on the menorah.
For more information contact the Chabad House at 913-649-4852 or email .{/mprestriction}
