More than 100 people packed into Congregation Kol Shalom, a conservative Jewish synagogue in Parole, for a pre-Hanukkah celebration last weekend.

The crowd was treated to a concert by Rak Shalom, a Jewish a cappella group from the University of Maryland.

Laura Kleiman, the congregation's chairperson of the Religious School Education Committee and event organizer, said the synagogue wanted to have an early party to help get everyone in the mood for the holidays. Hanukkah starts at sundown on Dec. 20.

She said children from their Hebrew School attended, as well as families from the entire community.

"They were incredible," Kleiman said of Rak Shalom in an email. "They were very interactive with the kids and the crowd. It's wonderful for our children to see their Judaism being expressed in such creative ways and to see how vibrant Jewish life can be outside of Annapolis."

They also had latkes and doughnuts (sufyganyot), which Kleiman said are tradional Hanukkah foods. They also had Hanukkah crafts for the children.