Heather Solomon	Our catering committee really spoiled us and provided lots of latkes with sour cream and apple sauce, various salads, a traditional Sephardic dish of couscous with raisins, dates and apricots, and soufganiot (donuts) for those with a sweet tooth. Heather Solomon was our children’s storyteller, recounting the history of Hanukkah using illustrations and props certain to keep their attention. In fact, Heather’s storytelling has become somewhat of a tradition now in our community, and even the adults look forward to her animated talk – given this year in French! After singing a number of Hanukkah songs, many of us danced traditional Israeli dances with Peter Smolesh, a well-known hora dance teacher from Montreal, who joined our party with his wife and her friend and kept us dancing and laughing for well over an hour.	COMMUNITY COLUMN Happy Birthday January 2006 Jennifer Shulman 2 John Giroux 7 Sara Gold 9 Katie-Tova Bowden 10 Lise Savoie 13 Stephanie Neron 13 Cloe Neron 19 Liat Gilor 20 David Green 20 Galit Gilor 22 Philippe Said 25 Marie Knafo 28 Hélène Joly 30 Welcome! Final list of new or returning members for 2005 Véronique Assor, Vincent Dion & Marieva Assor-Dion Max & Annette Benchetrit Margarite Quddus Norbert Max Elie Cohen Samuel Soussan Marie & Pierre Knafo Anne-Marie, Mélisse, Daphnée & Johanne Azoulay Hervé Téboul & Patricia Laloum Emile, Betty & Daniel Soussan Asa & Jennifer Shulman, Vincent Dansereau Henri, Lydia & Xavier Cohen Rachel & Amram Elkayam Rachel & Ralph Abergel Laurent Azancot & fiancée Richard & Kimberly Deveault Galina Bahachovski Leo & Lucie Wertheim & family Ibolya Abonyi & family Mike Gyopar & family Jennifer Rose Lapointe Janice Gould Stephen Covet Harvey Farovitch & Monic Cloutier Vivien & Janene Ptito Karen Abergel Arlette Acoca Haguit Abergel Mickey & Schlomit Etdgi Joseph Elfassy Ludovic & Annie Attal William Edery Simi & Joe Levy Get well soon! Hachlama mehira! To Lucienne Lee, who fractured her wrist and skull in a fall last July.
Federal Minister for Francophonie and fellow SSJC member, Jacques Saada, with his wife Nicole, joined our party and mingled with friends and members, content to enjoy a Hanukkah celebration with his community. No protocol, no speeches, no politicking, just happy to be a regular guy! “This has become such a vibrant community,” he said, “It’s such a pleasure to see such a successful celebration and obvious unity.” In fact, it was so successful that people were spilling over into the corridor, we lacked chairs, and we didn’t get to talk to everyone there. How marvelous! We all agreed on one thing though – the time has come to have our own community centre. We’re working on it!
Winter dance - a fun evening Members of the SSJC spent an enjoyable evening on December 10th at our community centre at a candlelit dance organized by our social committee. Max and Annette Benchetrit prepared CDs with music from the 1960s, 70s and 80s, while some of our members also brought along some old LPs to contribute to the nostalgia. Not all members came to dance, however, some preferred just to sit at the tables around the dance floor chatting and socializing. Our thanks to the catering committee who provided us with some light refreshments, fruit, cheese, cakes and liqueurs.
Hebrew lessons Beryl Tovim For the past year we have held a successful Hebrew class FOR ADULTS and that class is continuing this year (on Tuesday evenings at the Centre at 7:30 p.m.) Anyone wishing to join this class in January is welcome to apply. However, it is still our hope that we can start a children’s class on a Sunday morning. Since starting this project we believe there may be other children in the community who now have reached an age to begin such classes; 5 years is the minimum age. Our teacher, Yaffit, is in fact well trained to work with children and has no problem in managing a class of mixed ages. They will not only learn the basics of Hebrew but will also learn about Jewish festivals and Jewish history. If we wish to have a continuation of Jewish life on the South Shore – we need to introduce our children to the world of Judaism at an early age. And it will be a fun experience for them. As far as cost is concerned this can only be ascertained when we know how many children we have. However, please rest assured that any parent unable to afford such classes will not be excluded. Interested parents should call Rosalie at 450-462-7870 (I will be in the UK in January) if they wish to register. Elections - the SSJC supports Jacques Saada Alain Assor, Vice President The Board of Directors has passed a unanimous resolution in support of the re-election campaign of Jacques Saada, minister for the Francophonie and of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the regions of Quebec. Mr. Saada is a long-standing member of the SSJC and a person who has helped generously with the development of our community. The Board urges members of the SSJC to support Jacques Saada's campaign in any way they can. His office is located in the Marché du Village, 7800 Boul. Taschereau, Local 120. Members who live in Mr. Saada’s riding are urged to go and vote for him. In the last election, 8,000 liberal voters stayed home, and his majority was reduced from 10,000 to 2,500 votes.   January 28 - Rosh Chodesh led by Leonard Cohen Religious Committee The SSJC will hold a Rosh Chodesh service on Saturday, January 28, at 9:00 a.m. at the community centre. The service will be led by our favourite lay leader, Leonard Cohen. We will be providing members with a hot kiddush (cholent) after the service and we look forward to seeing you there. A Sunday afternoon of cards and games Social Committee On January 15th, the community centre will be open to members for an afternoon of socializing. Those of you who enjoy playing cards or Scrabble are welcome to bring your own supplies. If, on the other hand, you would just like to chat and socialize, there will be tea, coffee and light refreshments. It's an opportunity to get to know other members on a dreary winter's day, so come and hang out.

Recruitment campaign – a community effort! Rosalie Miller-Hodson, Development Committee Building a community requires an effort from the entire community, from every member. Our immediate goal is 150 families. We have to broaden our membership base in order to support a new community centre. A community centre will, in turn, attract new members. New members will enable us to offer more religious and cultural services. Emily Shammah works at a department store. She was chatting with a customer, and, suspecting he was Jewish, she jumped right in and told him about our centre. Leo Wertheim immediately became a new member. Dina Cohen ran into an old friend. She spoke to her about the SSJC and now Barbara Levy is a new member. Charlie Benabou’s daughter was sure that one of the girls in her class was Jewish. She invited her to our celebration of Rosh Hashannah. Her mother came too, and now Hanna Wnorowska and her family are members. And that’s how it’s done. Do YOU know any Jewish people on the South Shore who are NOT YET members? Why aren’t they? Can you bring them along? Or if you are shy, how about giving us their name and telephone number and we will do the rest? Today we are 111 member families. How long before we are 150? Can you help?  On the lookout for a building Rosalie Miller-Hodson, Development Committee We are now actively looking for a building to house a new SSJC centre in the Brossard-Longueuil axis which could be renovated or transformed with the aid of a municipal grant. We ask everyone to keep an eye open. If you spot something that may have possibilities, such as a free standing restaurant, a church hall, an old school, etc., please call or send an email to Max Benchetrit (450-655-1874, maxben@vif.com).