AUBURN – What do Jews, who don’t celebrate Christmas, do on Dec. 25? Watch football? Maybe. How about ordering Chinese and putting a movie into the DVD player? That sounds like a plan.
About 40 members of Temple Shalom attended the congregation’s second annual Chinese food and a movie night. “There’s kind of an old joke: What do the Jews do when everybody else is celebrating Christmas? We have Chinese food and see a movie,” said Rabbi Hillel Katzir.
Wei-Li Chinese Restaurant, in Auburn, provided a large assortment of Chinese delicacies. “Happy Hanukkah” was imprinted on the napkins. “They don’t teach this in rabbi school,” Katzir said as he helped set up a buffet.
The rabbi explained that the event was a social occasion for families, so that all members of the congregation could have something to do on Dec. 25. “We wish our Christian friends a wonderful holiday,” Katzir said.
The event features a screening of a major motion picture that has a connection to Judaism. This year “The Producers” was shown. Mel Brooks’ 1968 comedy is the story of a down-on-his-luck Broadway producer that starred Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. “It was fun and there is a small Jewish connection because of the theme and Zero Mostel,” Katzir said.
Last year, the congregation watched “Keeping the Faith,” a 2000 film with Ben Stiller and Edward Norton about a priest and rabbi who are best friends and fall in love with the same woman.
Jack and Deena Weinstein of Bangor attended the event. The couple are members Temple Beth Isreal in Bangor. Deena Weinstein said the congregation in Bangor held a similar event and showed the same movie on Dec. 25.
Susan Katzir is the wife of the rabbi. She majored in Chinese at the University of California at Santa Barbara. When asked if she speaks it, she went into a short speech in Chinese.
Greg and Donna Holzman, who recently moved to Auburn from Grand Forks, N.D., had seen the sign directing people to Temple Shalom and stopped Saturday evening to see if anything was going on. They found themselves welcomed and dining on Chinese food.
Rabbi Katzir led the Havdalah, a ceremony that marks the end of the sabbath with a song. The sabbath is observed from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday. “It’s partly saying a regretful goodbye to to the sabbath and partly looking forward to the coming week and the next sabbath,” Katzir said after Havdalah concluded.
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