Crafting Hanukkah

Adath Israel hosts Hanukkah Mania program for students.

By:Lea Kahn Staff Writer
The sound of children’s voices filled the air in a large room at Adath Israel Sunday morning, as the youngsters crafted a hanukiyah, or menorah, to celebrate the festival of Hanukkah.
   The eight-day festival, which celebrates the victory of the Jews over the superior Syrian and Greek armies in 139 B.C., begins at sundown Dec. 25 and ends Jan. 1.
   The conquerors destroyed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Hanukkah commemorates both the rededication of the Holy Temple and the miraculous manner in which a one-day supply of oil for the lamp in the temple lasted for eight days.
   When the Jews reclaimed the Holy Temple, they found one vial of oil that had not been defiled by the Greeks. They used it to light the lamp in the temple, expecting it to last for one day. It lasted eight days, which gave the Jews enough time to obtain more oil.
   A menorah or hanukiyah has eight candles — one for each day that the oil lasted — and a ninth candle that is used to light the others. One candle is lighted on the first day, and then each day, another candle is lighted. On the eighth day, all of the candles are lighted.
   Aiming to bring the holiday to life for the children, Sunday morning at Adath Israel was devoted to reinforcing the story of Hanukkah through hands-on activities and workshops called Hanukkah Mania.
   Erica Levin, a 9-year-old third-grade student at Lawrenceville Elementary School, concentrated on creating her hanukiyah. She picked out some round pieces of wood and glued them to a plywood base. Small metal nuts on top of the round pieces serve as candle holders.
   Ian Goldsmith, 8, who is a third-grader at Stony Brook Elementary School in Hopewell Township, also tried his hand at making a hanukiyah to take home to his family.
   Erica and Ian, who are classmates in Adath Israel’s Sunday School, agreed that Hanukah is a time for family get-togethers. It is also a time to light the hanukiyah, exchange presents and play games with the dreidel, which is a spinning top, they said.
   The Greeks did not allow the Jews to teach or practice their religion, Ian said. The Jews kept the dreidel handy so that if someone approached them while lessons were being taught, they could spin it and pretend they were playing a game, he said.
   Hanukkah is also a time to eat lots of good food, Erica and Ian said. The children said they like latkes, which are fried potato pancakes. Sometimes, the latkes are topped with applesauce and sometimes they are topped with sour cream, Ian said.
   Sunday School teachers Fern Klein and Allison Kessler said Hanukkah celebrates the right to be Jewish. Although the custom is for parents to give gifts to their children, Hanukkah is not another Christmas, Ms. Klein said. It is a special holiday for the Jews, she said.
   "This is a hard time of year for our children," Ms. Klein said. The emphasis at this time of year is on Christmas. In Israel, children receive money at Hanukah, not presents as they do in the United States, she said.
   Creating menorahs or hanukiyahs is a good activity for the children, Ms. Klein and Ms. Kessler agreed. It’s an opportunity to reinforce what the children have learned in a hands-on manner, they said.
   "They are all engaged (in the experience of making a menorah)," Ms. Klein said. "They will take pride in their menorah. It supplements what they learned. If they experience it by making a menorah, it reinforces what they learned."