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Community Corner

Attention, Families! Fun, Free, Interactive Tour of the Jewish Calendar through Food

Area Organizations Work Together to Bring Jewish Culture to Families in the Chicagoland Area

Have you ever wondered just what all of the many Jewish holidays are about? Big Tent Judaism-Chicago and nine area organizations will answer this question on Sunday, June 29 at Sunday in the Park with Bagels, a free, family-friendly event that takes participants on a tour of the Jewish calendar through food and activities. This interactive program will take place from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Deerpath Park in Vernon Hills, Ill., and is geared toward families with young children.

 

Children and parents alike will learn about Jewish holidays in a creative and fun way at Deerpath Park (299 Onwentsia). Event goers will have the opportunity to experience various Jewish holidays through food samples and hands-on activities at booths set up south of the main parking lot at the park. Big Tent Judaism-Chicago is teaming up with area Jewish organizations to bring this program to Vernon Hills. Volunteers from Congregation Beth Judea, Congregation Or Shalom, InterfaithFamily Chicago, Jewish Community Center of Chicago, Jewish Child & Family Services, Jewish United Fund, and Reform Jewish Chicago will host the holiday booths. Some of the holidays highlighted include Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year), and Passover, which will be hosted by Pushing the Envelope Farm. A community farm and education center rooted in Jewish tradition, Pushing the Envelope will be offering participants a hands-on charoset (apple and nut salad eaten at Passover)-making experience using a bicycle-powered blender. Other booths will have activities such as face painting, clay pot decorating with a seed packet giveaway, as well as other crafts. In addition to the hands-on activities taking place at the holiday booths, witty and family-friendly puppeteer Marilyn Price will perform a fun-filled show for event-goers at 11 a.m.

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Alyssa Latala, Big Tent Judaism Coordinator for Chicago, has been preparing for this event for several months. “I'm so excited to bring Sunday in the Park with Bagels to the Chicago area. It is a fun, hands-on, approachable way for families with young children to experience a taste of Jewish culture. Between the food, the music, and the crafts, there's something for everybody,” Latala said.

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Sunday in the Park with Bagels was developed by, and is offered in partnership with, Big Tent Judaism/Jewish Outreach Institute. Big Tent Judaism is an independent, national, trans-denominational organization that reaches out to unaffiliated and intermarried families, and helps the Jewish community better welcome them in. Sunday in the Park with Bagels is one of several Public Space JudaismSM programs, a series of free programs developed by Big Tent Judaism to help Jewish communities engage newcomers by meeting them where they are in public secular spaces    

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