York County Community Chanukah Party

After forgoing the in-person version of its annual York County Community Chanukah Party in 2019, 2020, and 2021 for various reasons, including the COVID-19 pandemic, Congregation Etz Chaim, Biddeford’s Jewish synagogue, is pleased to announce that it will open its doors for the famed holiday festival for the first time in four years.

Members of the public are invited to attend the party, which will take place at the synagogue (34 Bacon St., Biddeford) on Dec. 18, from 5 to 8 p.m. A potluck dinner will be supplemented by an abundance of hot and crispy fresh-out-of-the-pan-latkes (fried potato pancakes), the traditional food served on Chanukah. Drinks and desserts will be provided.

Dinner will be followed by a community sing-a-long, led by Cantor Beth Strassler, the lighting of the synagogue’s menorah, and then an evening of dancing to the live music of the Casco Bay Tummlers, a Portland-based klezmer (traditional Eastern European Jewish music) band, that has been the highlight of the event for a quarter century. The Tummlers performance will be livestreamed on Facebook (@etzchaimmaine) from 6 to 8 p.m. and available to view via Zoom with preregistration.

The Casco Bay Tummlers formed in 1988 and have performed throughout New England and internationally in Germany, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Italy.

Those interested in attending are strongly encouraged to preregister at etzchaimme.org/chanpartyreg22 or by visiting Congregation Etz Chaim’s website: www.etzchaimme.org. Preregistration is required to participate via Zoom. In-person admission, payable at the door for both those who preregister and those who do not, will be $6 per person and $15 per family if preregistered; or $10 per person and $25 per family if not preregistered. Please bring a vegetarian or dairy dish to share (no meat, please).