Hanukkah in Baghdad

Goshen — Jewish soldiers stationed in Iraq enjoyed a made-in-the-USA Hanukkah celebration, thanks to the generosity of local children. “It came to be by us brainstorming to give to those that weren’t in our situation,” said Rivkie Borenstein of Chabad of Orange County. “They are helping us and therefore not able to be with families and friends.” Rivkie is the wife of Rabbi Meir Borenstein of Chabad. She said got in touch with Major Adam E. Torem of the Air Force Reserve by way of a Chabad rabbi in Tacoma, Washington. He was excited to get her e-mail, and told her a party would take place for all Jewish (“and non-Jewish too, I think”) soldiers on Dec. 26 in the former palace of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein. “We wanted it to be a direct contact, so that the children can see where their stuff went to,” Rivkie said.