On Thursday at sundown, Hanukkah began. The traditional eight-day Jewish celebration, also known as the Festival of Lights, commemorates the dedication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem. After Judah Maccabee and his band of merry men defeated the Seleucid Empire's occupying forces in Jerusalem, the temple was re-dedicated, circa 160 B.C.E. As the story goes, there was only enough oil to illuminate the temple for one day, yet it miraculously burned for eight days straight until more oil was procured. Flash forward a few millennia, and we find a minor miracle at the Jewish Community Day School. The K-8 in Watertown, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, has about 200 students. These students, like everyone in the entire world, have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Traditions such as the yearly eight graders' trip to New York have been cancelled. Children, just learning to socialize, must now simultaneously learn to practice social distancing. Miraculously, there is a way to socialize while maintaining at least six feet of separation—nine feet, in fact, given the standard dimensions of a Joola outdoor table. The high-quality al fresco athletic amenity appeared thanks to a crowdsourcing campaign spearheaded by Lisa Wasserman Sivan. The fundraising was largely supported by the students' families, who were surely grateful to give the kids a safe way to exercise and socialize. There were unconfirmed reports that the original delivery only included one ball, which was promptly broken. When the students sadly went to put the equipment away, they discovered another ball. This inexplicable phenomenon continued for eight days, until a new pack of balls was procured. Miraculous, indeed. Happy Hanukkah!

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