by Larry Oskin, Marketing Solutions
Congregation Sinai of Groveland, Florida, invites the entire South Lake community to join in a festive Chanukah celebration on Saturday, December 5, 2026, starting at 7 PM, at The Clermont Room, in the Clermont Arts & Recreation Center.
Chanukah is a time to celebrate the miracle of light, tradition, and the joy of coming together. Congregation Sinai welcomes families, neighbors, and friends of all Jewish backgrounds to share in this special celebration. This special evening promises to be filled with holiday spirit, delicious food, music, laughter, and friendship. Guests will enjoy delicious homemade latkes lovingly prepared and served by the women of Congregation Sinai. The Joe Goldovitz & Friends Band will be entertaining everyone with traditional Chanukah and Jewish holiday songs. An entertaining special Chanukah skit will feature members of our community who are busily rehearsing for the occasion.
Everyone is encouraged to please RSVP by Monday, November 30 for this event, so they can prepare enough homemade latkes. The room will be filled with Chanukah decorations, to create a fun and festive holiday atmosphere.
Chanukah 2026 will begin at sundown on Friday, December 4, 2026, and it will end at nightfall on Saturday, December 12, 2026.
Chanukah is an eight-day Jewish winter festival and celebration that is also known as the Festival of Lights to commemorate the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the 2nd century BCE.
Each night is marked by families and groups lighting a Chanukah menorah together with a nine-branched candelabrum containing spaces for eight ceremonial lights plus one additional candle, the shámash or ‘attendant’, which is used to light the others. Aside from the shámash, one candle is lit on the first night, two on the second, and so on, until all eight are burning together on the final night. Common practices on Hanukkah include special Jewish prayers, singing Chanukah songs, and playing the game of dreidel while enjoying latkes and other foods, such as sufganiyot donuts.
Organized by Joyce Cohen, she says, “Come celebrate the Chanukah Festival of Lights with us!” Admission is only $18 per person, while children under 12 are free. Everyone coming is asked to please RSVP by November 15, so they can prepare enough homemade latkes for everyone!
Join Congregation Sinai! Joe Goldovitz provides unique spiritual leadership. Congregation Sinai serves as a house of prayer and study in which the spectrum of Jewish expression is cultivated, protected and nurtured. With Jewish holiday celebrations throughout the year, educational programs for children, adult education, bible study groups and bar/bat mitzvah study; they strive to educate their members and our community in Judaism’s rich heritage with contemporary significance, while sharing Jewish culture, rituals, traditions and values. Interfaith families are welcome.
Observe all of the Jewish Holidays at Sinai! Celebrate with family and your Jewish friends, holidays and traditions. Congregation Sinai is located at: 1200 West Broad Street, Groveland, FL 34736. For more information, membership, reservations and tickets to their annual High Holiday services, Friday night Shabbat services, educational programs, Torah Study, special events and for how to log-in online for their services, contact: Congregation Sinai by mail at: 4327 South Highway 27, Box 315, Clermont, FL 34711. Phone 352-243-5353. Email info@congregation-sinai.org. Visit them at: www.congregation-sinai.org. and on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2022346804470513/?ref=bookmarks. Affordable High Holiday and Annual Memberships are available.
