Hanukkah happenings: Jewish community persists though numbers dwindle

While there are plenty of other holidays celebrated around the world during the winter season, in the Brazosport region, Christmas reigns.

A tiny minority overall, the Jewish community of Brazoria County has mixed individuals’ Hanukkah traditions in with the others in the community.

The Jewish community in the area is dwindling with fewer members every year.

In Judaism, a minyan, or quorum, of 10 Jewish bar or bat mitzvah’d adults is required for services.

“We almost always have a minyan but often just barely,” said Ed Smolen, a Dow engineer who worships in the county. “We have about a dozen families who meet together once a month.”

Having such a tight-knit community affects everyone differently.

Dow chemist Jackie Hunt Schiff sees the Brazoria County community as welcoming and accepting, she said.

“Since lots of folks are from outside the area, they bring with them their own customs and religions,” Schiff said. “In this area, it’s not difficult to worship and no one looks down on you. Others are just curious about Judaism and ask our group to teach or show them about a holiday. We often meet in churches because we don’t have our own temple or building. We invite folks from nearby churches to join us for Passover.”

Some Jewish community members, such as Ken Reichek, remember growing up in Houston was very different from raising children in Lake Jackson.

“I was raised in an area of Houston where most of the community was Jewish,” Reichek said. “We celebrated Hanukkah and the Christian people celebrated Christmas. The difference was we decorated the inside of our home instead of the outside.

Reichek, who moved to Lake Jackson in 1973 and since has retired, has seen the changes in the community throughout his children’s generation, he said.

“It was much more problematic for my children growing up here; it was an encumbrance for them,” Reichek said. “My oldest daughter is 43 and my son is 29. There were a few Jewish kids around when my daughter was young, but by the time my son came around, there were no other Jewish kids in the community.”

Schiff agrees it’s challenging to have young children who don’t have Jewish friends in school, she said.

“All they hear about is Christmas and their own identity is not mentioned,” she said. “It can be confusing and they want to know where their community and religion is.”

For other minorities with young children, Schiff has found that spending time teaching the children about who they are and where they come from really helps.

“What you have to do is teach them about Hanukkah and Judaism,” she said. “Make a big deal out of Hanukkah to show them they have a fun holiday at the same time Christmas is. It helps that Hanukkah usually comes before Christmas so they get their presents before the other kids.”

A younger Jewish community member, Emerson Yellen, aquatics coordinator for the city of Lake Jackson, remembers her family’s traditions around the holiday season as being all-inclusive.

“We celebrate both,” Yellen said. “We had a Christmas tree and a menorah when I was growing up. My dad used to call it ‘super Christmas’ when it would occur in the middle of Hanukkah. A few times, we even had super Thanksgivings.”

But there’s one thing on which everyone agrees: the Jewish Community of Brazosport is a safe, inclusive group where no one is treated or feels like an outsider.