The eight-day Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which...

The eight-day Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which recalls the recapture of the Jerusalem temple 21 centuries ago, will begin this year on Sunday at sunset and, coincidentally, end about the time Christians have finished opening all their Christmas presents Dec. 25.

Therein lies the dilemma of modern Jewish parents whose children expect Hanukkah presents--one each day.

“Beginning in October, I start to hear, ‘What are you going to get me?’ ” says Rabbi Ed Feinstein of Encino’s Valley Beth Shalom. “The Grinch of December commercialism has stolen my kids.”

Writing in the Conservative synagogue’s newsletter, Feinstein offered “a modest recommendation” to alternate getting nights with giving nights.

“On the first night, give the kids their biggest gifts,” the rabbi suggested. Then on succeeding nights:

2nd: Have children select a toy they don’t play with and give it to a local collection point for needy children.

3rd: Children get gifts.

4th: Take a blanket to a homeless shelter (or to a synagogue for delivery).

5th: Children get gifts.

6th: Take food to a food bank.

7th: Children get gifts.

8th: Wrap up a book to give it to a library.

“Let them understand that there are those, even at this magical time of year, who don’t have what they need, much less what they might want,” Weinstein said.

FILIPINO CHRISTMAS

As many as 50,000 Filipino Americans are expected to participate, starting this evening, in a series of Advent celebrations that have grown in number each year throughout the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese. Called “Simbang Gabi,” the devotional services focus on Mary, the mother of Jesus, and move in sequence from parish to parish for eight nights through Dec. 23, with a ninth service at one’s home church on Christmas Eve.

From 76 participating parishes last year, the total climbed this year to 90 parishes from Oxnard to Long Beach to the San Gabriel Valley, said Msgr. Loreto “Mac” Gonzales, director of the archdiocese’s Filipino Pastoral Ministry.

PEOPLE

* Rabbi Lennard R. Thal, a prominent Los Angeles leader of Reform Judaism, has been elected national vice president of the 1.3-million member denomination--the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Thal, 53, will move to New York to serve as the top aide to Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the denomination’s new president, and supervise the group’s 12 regional councils in the United States and Canada.

Thal will be succeeded in Los Angeles by Rabbi Janet Marder as the president of the Pacific Southwest Council, which covers 71 congregations in Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Thal has headed the council since 1982.

Active in ecumenical efforts in Los Angeles, Thal has headed the Council of Religious Leaders of Los Angeles, which includes leading Roman Catholic, Protestant and Jewish clerics, and serves on the executive board of the Los Angeles Board of Rabbis.

* The Rev. Russell Spittler, an Assembly of God minister, will become provost of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena on Jan. 1, replacing Robert Johnston, who recently joined the Fuller faculty. Spittler, who holds a doctorate in New Testament studies from Harvard and is an authority on Pentecostalism, will be Fuller’s “chief academic officer,” as Fuller President Richard Mouw put it in a recent announcement.

* Comedian Steve Allen will perform as pianist and philosopher tonight and Sunday at the University of Judaism’s Gindi Auditorium. The creator and first host of television’s “Tonight Show,” Allen has also written 46 books and 5,300 songs. The Encino resident likes to field questions on philosophy, religion and moral issues--which he will do when not playing the piano at 8:30 p.m. today and at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $23 and $18. Information: (310) 476-9777.

* Fred M. Zaitsu, 55, has been appointed the U.S. general director of Soka Gakkai Buddhists for a second three-year term, said spokesman Al Albergate. Part of a worldwide lay-led organization based in Japan, Soka Gakkai International-USA has 330,000 members, with about 2,200 living in and around Santa Monica, site of the U.S. headquarters.

CHRISTMAS MUSIC

* The 35th annual telling of the Christmas story through words, music, tableaux and candle-lighting will be performed free at 7:30 p.m. Sunday by First Baptist Church of Los Angeles, 760 S. Westmoreland Ave. Selections from Benjamin Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols” will be included. Security parking is available in the church lot at 8th Street and Westmoreland. Information: (213) 384-2151.

* A concert including seasonal Gregorian chants will be performed by the Chapel of Charlemagne, directed by Robert Fowells, at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, 532 S. Atlantic Blvd., Los Angeles, at 4:30 p.m. Sunday. The group is affiliated with the Roger Wagner Center for Choral Studies at Cal State L.A. Donations of $5 or $3 are suggested. Information: (818) 332-8465.

* “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” a concert featuring traditional and contemporary choirs, hand bells, dancers and brass ensembles, will be presented today and Sunday, at 7 p.m. both nights, at Bel-Air Presbyterian Church, 16221 Mulholland Drive, one mile west of the San Diego Freeway. Admission is free, but an offering will be taken.

Chants, spirituals, “Ave Marias” and original works will be performed in an Advent concert by the choir of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 6657 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, at 3 p.m. Sunday. No admission, but an offering taken. Information: (213) 462-6311.

DATES

* References to Jesus in the Koran, the Muslim holy book, will be discussed in a free public lecture Sunday at the Islamic Center of Southern California, 434 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles. Jesus is termed a prophet by the Koran, as are a number of Hebrew biblical figures, but he is not viewed as divine. Dr. Maher Hathout, president of the Interreligious Council of Southern California; his physician-brother Dr. Hassan Hathout, and psychologist Nancy M. Lydick, a columnist for Minaret magazine, will speak during a 90-minute session, starting at 11:30 a.m.

* The do’s and don’ts of lighting Hanukkah candles will be explained in a free seminar by Orthodox Rabbi Nachum Sauer at 9:30 a.m. Sunday at the Yeshiva of Los Angeles campus, 9760 W. Pico Blvd. Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein will follow at 10:45 a.m. with a talk on Hanukkah insights. Information: (310) 553-4478, Ext. 285.

* A New Year’s Eve retreat from 4 to 10 p.m. on Dec. 31 is being offered by the Catholic-sponsored Center for Spiritual Development, 434 S. Batavia St., Orange. $30, including dinner. Registration deadline is 10 days before the program: (714) 744-3175, Ext. 400.

* Cantor Patti Linsky, now with Temple Ahavat Shalom in Northridge, will sing in concert at her former synagogue, Temple Beth Torah, 720 Foothill Road, Ventura, at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $18. Information: (805) 647-4181.

* The boys choir of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church will perform Benjamin Britten’s “Carol of the Birds” in a fund-raising concert at 4 p.m. Sunday at Delphi Greek Cuisine restaurant, 1383 Westwood Blvd., Los Angeles. The choir will be joined by restaurant co-owner Estelle Skouras Prineas, a Juilliard graduate who has performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The boys choir has performed widely, including twice at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and in 1987 at the Los Angeles Coliseum during the visit of Pope John Paul II. Admission is $15.

FINALLY

It harks back to an old Southern California stereotype--provide drive-through convenience, and they’ll come.

Even presentations of Nativity tableaux with actors and animals depicting the Gospel stories of Jesus’ birth.

For the sixth year, Westminster Presbyterian Church in Pasadena will offer “Roads to Bethlehem” in its parking lot, staging the production tonight and Sunday between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.

“What started as a small project with just a few members of our congregation has grown into a major production involving hundreds of volunteers from all over the area,” said Tineke Switzer, a program coordinator.

Eight scenes, such as “Annunciation,” “The Inn” and “The Three Wise Men,” are arranged in the parking lot so that people may drive through “and view them from the comfort of their vehicles,” said a church spokeswoman.

The church is at 1757 N. Lake Ave., but motorists enter the parking lot off Atchison Street. Admission is free, and refreshments await at tour’s end. Information: (818) 794-7141.