Jewish group wanted  to celebrate Hanukkah with an exciting event

By Michael Wamble
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Bowl a perfect 300, then light the menorah.

That was kind of the concept Tuesday as members of Lubavitch Chabad of Naperville prepared to roll a few games while celebrating Hanukkah during a gathering at the Brunswick Zone.

For Rob Williamson of Naperville, going bowling during Hanukkah is just one more way Lubavitch Chabad proves that “when they say celebrate, they really mean it.”

Along with the menorah lighting and bowling matches, members said they planned to munch on latkes and jelly doughnuts.

Williamson said he learned about Lubavitch Chabad, an organization that teaches and supports “a traditional Jewish experience,” in 2002.

Through study groups and other gatherings, he said he found warmth.

Since 2004, Chabad had been without a leader until the recent arrival of Rabbi Mendy Goldstein.

The idea to go bowling, Goldstein said, came from a desire “to do something exciting.”

He said part of his work in Naperville will be to “reestablish Chabad here.” The group has a membership of 20 families and Goldstein wants to increase that number.

Many of Chabad’s members are affiliated with area congregations. Williamson attends Congregation Beth Shalom in Naperville and some other members are part of Congregation Etz Chaim in Lombard.

Goldstein said a big part of his mission is to reach out to Jews who are unaffiliated.

Within Judaism, Lubavitch Chabad has been called an Ultra-Orthodox movement.

Goldstein said he rejects that description.

“Labels are for pants and shorts,” he said.

But the group does embrace the mysticism side of the religion.

Beginning Feb. 7, it will sponsor an eight-week course on Kabbalah led by the director of Chabad of Chicago, Rabbi Daniel Moscowitz.

 “We follow a Hasidic philosophy,” Goldstein said. “We look at a person’s soul, not a person’s body.”