Religious School Recap – Dec. 3, 2021

Chanukah Sameach!

 Welcome back everyone!  I hope y’all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday filled with good food and family fun.  We have returned for our Hannukah celebrations!  This past week and this upcoming week will be all about Hannukah, with so many fun activities planned.  Our next extravaganza will be this Sunday, December 5, which also happens to be the 8th night of Hannukah.  I also wanted to remind you that our Hannukah Shabbat service will take place this Friday, December 3, at 6:00 p.m.

 And now for the recap.  Larry led our Tefillah service with the skill worthy of a Rabbi.  He does so much for our school, everyone give him a big thank you next week.

 The lower grades learned all about one of the most important parts of Hannukah: the Dreidel game!  Heather helped the kids make their own dreidels, drawing the key letters of gimel, hay, shin, and nun onto wooden dreidels they will use for their games this week.  Jenny led an art project creating a menorah with glue, paper, and fabric.  They can hang the pictures on the wall next to their menorahs at home.

 For the Bnai Mitzvah class, we first learned about the history of Hannukah, especially its origins in the revolt against the Seleucid Greek empire, why it happened, the different factions of Judaism at the time, and Hannukah’s roots in reviving Sukkot.  Next we carved the letters into our wooden dreidel using a screwdriver and hammer (very delicate operation).  Finally, we learned how to set up a proper environment for Hannukah, including having a mezzuzah and menorah by the door to surround the room with holiness and light, setting up the menorah so that the candles are placed right to left but lit left to right, the prayers, how long to let the candles burn, etc.  Parents will enjoy seeing their kids lead the lighting of the menorahs.

Next week we will continue our Hannukah fun with songs and dreidel games.  We look forward to seeing everyone there!

Best,

David