Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz began his Hanukkah tradition 15 years ago, when both Sarasota and his family were much smaller.
Shortly after moving here from California in 1990, Steinmetz, unfamiliar with the area and hampered by a lack of street lights, and with his wife and two infants, got lost on the way to the nursing home where they planned to light a Hanukkah menorah with a resident who had fallen ill.
On Sunday, Steinmetz easily found his way to Sarasota Memorial Hospital to pay his annual Hanukkah visit -- in the company of his wife and six of their eight children.
"Most people have their holidays at home, but we go out," said Steinmetz, whose congregation is Chabad of Sarasota.
Eight-day Hanukkah celebration begins
Rabbi brings his family to light up the life of a member of his congregation who is at Sarasota Memorial Hospital
Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz began his Hanukkah tradition 15 years ago, when both Sarasota and his family were much smaller.
Shortly after moving here from California in 1990, Steinmetz, unfamiliar with the area and hampered by a lack of street lights, and with his wife and two infants, got lost on the way to the nursing home where they planned to light a Hanukkah menorah with a resident who had fallen ill.
On Sunday, Steinmetz easily found his way to Sarasota Memorial Hospital to pay his annual Hanukkah visit — in the company of his wife and six of their eight children.
“Most people have their holidays at home, but we go out,” said Steinmetz, whose congregation is Chabad of Sarasota.
This year, the family visited Abe Abraham, an old friend and Chabad member from Toronto who has been coming to Sarasota since 1973.
A week ago, Abraham, 76, suffered a stroke; a slight stroke, but enough to keep him wheelchair-bound.
“I love these kids,” Abraham said of the Steinmetz brood. “My whole body jumped up when I saw these kids.”
On Sunday, Abraham’s wife, Renee, watched as her husband handed the Steinmetz children dollar bills and requested “high-fives.”
“Now he looks human again,” she said.
Zev Steinmetz, 13, the eldest of the children who visited the hospital, said it felt good to give back to a man who had done so much for him.
Some years ago, Abraham, an avid fisherman, taught Zev how to fish.
