Hi Becky, DH is Jewish. If you still need, I can try and get him to explain Hannukah for you. It may not be so simple though. He tends to get carried away with his explanations LOL. He means well, though :>). Kim R
Becky, my friend is Jewish. If you still need help, I will be glad to ask her tomorrow and post her answer. Patty
Becky, I called my friend and her husband said she wasn't going to be home today. I will ask her tomorrow at church. Sorry. I was hoping to ask her today. Patty
Okay Becky! I tried to condense the information because there is a lot. Here it goes. Hanukkah means rededication. It is an eight day commemoration, celebrating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt. The foreign rulers of the Israelites decreed that the Jews bow down to the image of their leader, Antiochus, whose statue was erected in the Temple. God’s law forbade Jewish people to bow to statues or idols. A small group of Jews called Maccabees rebelled. They risked their lives to live according to Jewish law and to prevent the desecration of their sacred Temple. The Temple in Jerusalem, the Jews holy place, was destroyed. The temple was repaired and when it was finished, the Jews rededicated it to God by rekindling the menorah. But there was only enough olive oil to fuel the menorah for one night, and it would have taken eight days to make more oil. The tradition of Hanukkah says that the one day supply of oil burned for eight days and nights until they were able to make more oil. Hanukkah is observed by the lighting of the Menorah. One candle is lit each night of the holiday until all eight are lit. This is the final night. An extra light called a shamash, or servant, is also lit each night, and is given a specific location. It is usually higher or lower than the others. This candle is only used to light the other candles. Gifts are exchanged, songs are sung, and basically it is a time of celebration but first prayer and the lighting of the candles come before the celebration. I hope this helps. I am glad that I was able to talk to her about it. She was so excited to help.:lol: She is a dear person. Patty
Wow- that was a great help, Patty. I now know I explained it properly. The thing I'm still not sure of is the candles. Are they lit in any particular order? In the Kwaanza books they talked about the colored candles, you know? We read one Hanukkah book that called the Shamash the 'Helper Candle', which I thought was nice. It was written from a child's point of view as they explained what they do during the Hanukkah celebration. I appreciate all your and your friend's help, Patty. Can you also ask her if she's seen the site www.hanukat.com ? I'm wondering how worthy it is. Jeannie likes it because it's a fun site that uses a cat and some other animals, but since I'm not Jewish I have no idea how authentic it is. Does that make sense?
Becky, Dh suggested a couple of children's poems and a story written by a ten year old [see below] to help explain the story of Hanukkah to younger kids;(LONG) <<<>>> Song of Hanukkah Eva Grant Come and sing a Hanukkah song. Sing of heroes, brave and strong - Maccabeus and his band, Who rescued Israel's ancient land. Sing a song of candles burning, Dreidel spinning, pancakes turning, Hanukkah presents tucked away To open on the holiday. Sing a happy Hanukkah song Every day for eight days long. <<<>>> Hanukkah Lights Nine little candles in my Hanukkah light, Burning brightly throughout the night. But one little candle is taller than the rest, We call that candle the Shamash. We light the candles one by one, We play with dreidels and have some fun. We dance the hora and tell the story, Of Judah Maccabbee and his glory. <<<>>> The Story of Chanukah by Marta Herschkopf, age 10 http://www.zuzu.org/ch2.html A long time ago the Greeks led by Alexander the Great, their king, were trying to take over the world. They were very good fighters and were succeeding so far. They defeated Persia, who was ruling the land of Israel and then marched off to the Jews' holy land. When they reached Jerusalem, they put it under Grecian rule. The Jews weren't sure if they wanted to become Greek. So the Greeks put up an idol and commanded the Jews to bow to it. Then a man named Matityaho spoke up and cried, "All Jews who wish to obey Hashim follow me!" He was joined by his sons and other Jews. They gathered weapons and fled for the mountains. There they kept the Sabbath and all of the Torah's commandments. Meanwhile the Greeks had taken over Israel. They had gone to the Holy Temple and placed a huge idol inside. Then they overturned tables and altars and knocked down the golden Menorah. Indeed, the temple was destroyed. Then they descended upon the Jews in the hills. They were led by Matitayo's oldes son Judah. These Jews got the name Maccabbees, which means "hammers," in Hebrew because they fought with the power of hammers. The real miracle of Chanukah was that even though there were so many Greeks, and so few Maccabees, the Maccabees won and chased the Greeks out of Jerusalem. The first thing they did was they went to the temple and lit the Menorah. But they found only enough oil for one day. But the oil lasted for eight days which is the best known miracle of Chanukah. ### Kim
Hi Becky, Dh says one last "little" thing on the order of lighting the candles. Some people light all the candles on the 1st day the first day and then light one less each day for the 8 days because that is how the oil would have worked if there was a full lamp. Others light one the first day and then add one more each day to emphasize the miracle of having the oil last 8 days. He thinks either way would be correct as interpreted by each family. Hope this helps. Kim
I just don't want to tell Jeannie the wrong things. I wish I'd get more answers on my Kwaanza thread, as well. Lol- are there no black homeschoolers??? Hey.. I wonder how that does pan out- natinalities, races, etc, of homeschoolers? Which race or religion or whatever has the largest number of homeschooling families? I bet someone has looked into it.
