After a lovely and deep Teshuvah theme, we have the gift of spending this last week before break doing all things Chanukah! The children in Nitzanim v’Anafim (“Buds” for 1st-2nd grades and “Branches” for 3rd grade) love Chanukah, and it’s been so much fun to make Chanukah cards and decorations, play sevivon (dreidel) and Chanukah Ivrit (Hebrew) games, and make Chanukah cookies for our whole community together!
We’ve also spent time over the past couple weeks exploring the Chanukah story. Children have enjoyed noticing the differences between the various endings (“This one says we celebrate Chanukah because the Jews missed celebrating Sukkot during the war!” and “This one is the version with the miracle when the oil lasted for 8 days!”) and making detailed buildings like the one below.
“This is the temple after they cleaned it up. They brought in all new things and had a party.”
Many children have mentioned enjoying last year, when Chanukah started in November and we got to light candles together each night. Though we won’t get to do that this year, we’ve still gotten to have Chanukah celebrations together that are joyful and full of Chanukah light. Chag Chanukah Sameach (Happy Chanukah)!
