The first day of Hanukkah falls on Christmas this year, an overlap that has occurred only four times in the past century and won’t happen again until 2035.
Chabad of Cape Cod’s members usually mark the first night of the eight-day festival of lights by illuminating an oversized menorah at the Cape Cod Mall on Route 132 in Hyannis. But this year’s plan is a little different.
Because the mall is closed on Christmas, the menorah-lighting will be at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 29, at the mall, in the courtyard outside Macy’s women’s store, said Rabbi Yekusiel Alperowitz of the Chabad Jewish Center in Hyannis.
“We had a pre-Hanukkah dinner last Friday on the 13th (at Cape Cod Synagogue in Hyannis). And there will be services on Friday the 27th for Hanukkah,” said Wendy Lavenda-Carroll, chair of the synagogue’s social action committee.
Free Christmas Day dinner at Cape Cod Synagogue in Hyannis
On Christmas Day, Cape Cod Synagogue members will be doing what they have done every Christmas for 50 years: Making dinner for their Christian neighbors.
Doors open at 11 a.m. (earlier with hot coffee if the weather is bad) at 145 Winter St., for a full-course turkey dinner. Volunteers are cooking 12 turkeys and all the fixings for an expected crowd of 100 to 150 people, Lavenda-Carroll said.
If there are leftovers, people can also take food home, she said.
The annual event offers “warmth and friendship to anyone in the community who may not have plans or family and friends to share the holiday with,” according to a notice with the details.
With donations and support from Cape Cod Synagogue congregants and friends of the synagogue, the Christmas event includes an opportunity to choose free used warm coats for both men and women, brand new socks, hats, gloves, and thermal wear.
“Also available will be like-new/gently used sweatpants, sweaters and sweatshirts. Gift cards, snacks and toiletries will also be provided to take home,” reads the notice.
“We have a wonderful woman who is not a member of the synagogue, who makes 150 bags of Christmas cookies for us each year,” Lavenda-Carroll said.
Retired couple hosts first free Christmas dinner in South Yarmouth; reservations required
New this year in nearby South Yarmouth, Roger and Bobbie Gardiner are hosting a free Christmas Day dinner from 2 to 5 p.m. at Howard Lodge, 20 Davis Road, South Yarmouth.
“You can just stop in and get a free meal,” Bobbie Gardiner said.
Reservations are required for this holiday meal and may be made through Tuesday by calling Bobbie at 508-737-8987 or Roger at 508-737-7964.
Bobbie Gardiner said the couple, who are retired and involved with other community service, decided to host a Christmas for strangers since they had the opportunity to eat with their own extended family just a few weeks ago on Thanksgiving.
“It’s just him and me, just the two of us,” Bobbie Gardiner said of Christmas Day dinner at the lodge. “My husband does the cooking.”
Organizers of both free dinners said they also plan to drop off meals for police, firefighters and emergency rescue personnel who are working on Christmas. Additionally, members of Falmouth Jewish Congregation will be handing out packaged dinners on Christmas Day for those who reserved them ahead.
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