My son is one of only two Jewish children in his first-grade class at our neighborhood school, a place where most of the children and even some of the parents still define Chanukah as “Jewish Christmas.” To help the other children understand our holiday and to help my son feel proud of it, I decided to make a class presentation, picking up some pointers along the way.
These ideas would be appropriate for children in preschool through first grade:
*Contact the teacher with your offer well in advance so that the two of you can pick a date that won’t interfere with any other special events at school.
*Provide the teacher with an agenda of what you’re going to be doing, for how long, and whether you’ll need any special equipment or supplies from the school.
*Keep the presentation simple. I tell the story of the Maccabees and the miracle of the oil, serve some potato latkes and make a craft.
*Children love the story of Chanukah because it combines action-figure type heroes with a magical ending. Chanukah is the story of how a tiny band of Jewish farmers were able to defeat the entire Syrian army.
The events that inspired Chanukah took place in Israel about 2,400 years ago, when the Syrian king Antiochus took over the country and declared that the Jews would no longer be allowed to practice their religion. He banned their holy books, dismantled their temple and required Jews to follow the Greek religion.
Many of the Jews went along with Antiochus’ orders, but one group, led by an elder Jewish leader named Mattathias, refused. He and his sons fled into the mountains and fashioned themselves into a tiny army called the Maccabees, a word that means hammers. Even though the Syrian army had swords, javelins and elephants to fight with, while the Maccabees had only sticks, stones and farm tools, the small Jewish band was able to defeat the enormous Syrian army.
When the Maccabees returned to their holy temple after the war, they discovered all of the damage that Antiochus had done. The temple was in ruins, with dirt and blood everywhere, and the Syrians had thrown out or destroyed all of the Jewish books and candlesticks. The temple’s menorah, a lamp with seven branches — one for every day of the week, lay on the floor. It was supposed to be kept burning all the time, but when the Maccabees searched the temple, all they could find was a tiny bottle of oil that could only last for one day. It would take at least a week for them to make more new oil.
The Maccabees poured the little bottle of oil in the menorah and lit it. A miracle happened, and those little drops of oil somehow kept the menorah burning for eight days. So every year, Jews all around the world remember the Maccabees’ victory and the miracle of the oil by lighting their special Chanukah menorahs. These menorahs have nine branches — with one branch allotted to a special candle that is used to light the others — and are lit at home for eight nights. Special foods like potato latkes or pancakes and jelly doughnuts are also eaten because they are cooked in oil.
If you don’t know the story of Chanukah by heart, or if storytelling isn’t your strong point, children’s books such as “Beni’s First Chanukah” by Jane Breskin Zalben (Henry Holt, 1988), “Chanukah Lights, Chanukah Nights” by Leslie Kimmelman (HarperCollins, 1995), and “The Eight Nights of Chanukah” by Judy Nayer (Troll Associates, 1998) are helpful.
*Potato latkes.
To make potato latkes in the classroom, experience has taught me to prepare most of them at home and then bring in enough supplies to make only a dozen or so in the classroom. Bring enough ingredients for two latkes per child. You’ll also need an electric frying pan, a grater, a large mixing bowl, a large spoon, a spatula, a few large jars of applesauce (I’ve yet to find the child who prefers sour cream), paper towels, paper plates, napkins and forks.
*Edible menorahs.
An easy, edible craft to do with really young children is to make edible menorahs. For each menorah, you’ll need the following ingredients: a slice of bread, cream cheese or butter, carrot sticks, pretzel sticks, raisins.
Spread the bread with cream cheese or butter. Arrange 8 pretzel sticks as candles and a carrot stick in the center as the shamash or helper candle. Place the raisins atop the pretzels and carrots as flames. Now each child can eat the menorah!
The idea for this menorah came from “Get Ready, Set, Grow!” by Eileen Morris (Lake Publishing, 1984).
Happy Chanukah!