20th Annual Family Hanukkah Party
to Benefit the Jewish Museum
on Wednesday, December 17

NEW YORK, NY - On Wednesday evening, December 17, 2014, the Jewish Museum will host its 20th annual Family Hanukkah Party fundraiser from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. This special event, which benefits the Jewish Museum, will feature celebratory holiday activities for adults, and children ages 2 through tweens.  The Jewish Museum is located at Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street, Manhattan.

New York Giants offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz and his wife Meridith and son Alex are special guests at this year’s event.  Schwartz will sign autographs and pose for photos, and will lead a Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony at 5:45 pm.  The party will also feature a DJ set by 10-year-old DJ Kai Song. 

Upon arrival young guests will have an opportunity to "walk the red carpet." Photos will be taken by "paparazzi" in front of the entrance to the Helena Rubinstein: Beauty Is Power exhibition, and “reporters”– the Jewish Museum’s Director, Claudia Gould, and event co-chair Sharon Coplan Hurowitz – will interview attendees about their wardrobe, their personality, and their favorite things about Hanukkah. Other activities include a glitter tattoo parlor with Glitter Tattoo New York; balloon art by Todd Neufeld's Twisted Balloon Company; creative technology with RoboFun; a collaborative mural inspired by the exhibition, From the Margins: Lee Krasner | Norman Lewis, 1945-1952; a Dylan’s Candy Bar contest; dreidel design; cookie decorating; and more.  Arts and crafts workshops throughout the Museum will round out the festive event. Guests will enjoy a buffet dinner and dessert.

Co-chairs Jacqueline Harris Hochberg, Sharon Coplan Hurowitz and Richard Hurowitz, and Lyss Stern and Brian Stern have taken a leading role in planning this lively evening to benefit The Jewish Museum's educational programs and exhibitions. 

Tickets range from $85 for an individual child and $175 for an individual adult (children under 2 are admitted free), to $600, $1,200, $2,500 and $5,000 for various packages. Ticket information may be obtained by visiting www.hanukkahparty2014.eventbrite.com or by calling 212.423.3264.  Families will be bringing unwrapped gifts for children in need, which will be donated to a charity.

According to NFL.com, New York Giants offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, is a "naturally strong mountain of a man." The 6'6, 340 pound twenty-eight year old jokingly credits his size - at least in part - to a childhood diet that included an excess of matzah ball soup and latkes. His younger brother, Mitchell, also plays in the NFL, so it's either in the soup, the genes or a combination of both. Mitchell's entry into the league in 2012 made the Schwartzes the first Jewish brothers to play in the NFL since 1923. Geoff started playing football at age 13, but until his junior year at Palisades Charter High School in Los Angeles, CA he thought his future would be in professional baseball. He went on to play football at the University of Oregon, where he started at right tackle for three years. During his senior year as an Oregon Duck, he helped his team lead the Pac-10 in rushing for a second consecutive year. In 2008, Geoffrey was drafted in the 7th round by the Carolina Panthers and played in all 16 games (starting in 3) of the 2009 season. Around mid-season in 2010, he was switched from right tackle to right guard and played 1,016 snaps. After spending the 2011 season on the injured reserve list due to a hip injury, Geoff was back on the field in 2012 with the Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs.  He made his way onto the New York Giants roster in 2014 with a four-year, $16.8 million deal.

DJ Kai Song has the skills of those three times his age and a father who is a professional in the field, who taught him since the age of 3. Since before Kai could pronounce full sentences, his father allowed him to play the music he loved on the Pioneer CDJ-1000 CD Decks in their home. As a professional representative for Pioneer, his father tests and develops new products and teaches clients how to use their DJ products, so with a professional DJ booth in their living room, it was only natural to teach his son how everything worked. This is why Kai has been so comfortable behind the decks for as long as he can remember, resulting in his first gig at age 3 (at the Children’s Museum of the Arts in NY).  With numerous performances across country, ranging from clubs such as Cielo and Pacha (NY), PH-D at the Dream Hotel (NY), Writers Room (Hollywood) and events such as the NY International Auto Show and MLS games at Red Bull Arena (NJ) to releasing his first mix album on Ultra Music, this 10 year old DJ prodigy has accomplished more in six years than many DJs have dreamed of in their lifetimes.

Hanukkah commemorates the miraculous events and heroic deeds that occurred in ancient Israel during a desperate war for Jewish religious and political freedom. The eight-day festival is observed this year beginning at sundown on Wednesday, December 16.