Algerian Jews Connect Purim with Hanukkah

It's always fascinating to find out how some Jewish communities around the world connect different holidays through customs. In the past I've written about Jews in Portugal giving Purim "gelt" to their children. Now I've discovered an additional Purim custom connecting this holiday with Hanukkah. Algerian Jews have a custom of children lighting candles on Purim. Unfortunately, I don't know how many but let's assume there's one candle for every major character in the Purim story.

You're probably thinking "Cute, but how can I connect this to classroom or home activities?" Here's the answer. I've googled and there are simple candle making instructions for kids. Create different sizes and colors for each character, light them and watch them burn. I'm placing my bets on a short, red colored candle for Haman with a caption "Burn Baby, Burn."
Sound right to you?






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The Aleksander Hasidim May Be Nearly Extinct But Their Havdalah Custom Lives On

My husband and I spent this Shabbat in Neve Aliza (located in Israel’s Shomron region) to celebrate a family Bar Mitzvah. The proud parents grew up in Israel but their joint roots are American and British. I was expecting a warm family setting with all the usual trappings, including familiar customs. And so it was, until Havdalah. I didn’t pay much attention to the fact that the father held up two long Shabbat candles crossed in an “X” position instead of the typical braided Havdalah candle. Sniffing small clusters of cloves and/or lemon scented fragrance followed the usual bill of fare, as did the singing of Hamavdil Bein Kodesh Le Khol and Eliyahu Hanavi.

I was about to give my husband the "let’s go" signal when I finally picked up on the fact that this was not a routine Havdalah ceremony. The Bar Mitzvah boy’s father, who hails from London, never extinguished the Havdalah candles. Instead, he placed them in the silver candlestick holders that his wife had used to welcome the Sabbath Queen and carried them back to stand on their silver tray, flames aglow. I quickly rushed over to him, asking “what are you doing?” “I’m extending the Shabbat another two hours,” he answered with a smile, realizing the irony of having just formally ended the day of rest. “Where did you get this custom from?” I asked. He shrugged his shoulders, explaining that it was always done in his house and that he thinks it started with the Aleksander Hassidim. At least, that’s what his mother, a descendent from this sect, once told him.

Who were the Aleksander Hassidim and where did they come from? He wasn’t sure, maybe the Polish city of Lodz. All it took was a quick Google search to find out that the now nearly extinct Aleksander Hassidim were the second largest Hassidic group in pre-Holocaust Poland. Clearly the flames of extinction did not succeed in obliterating their spirit. However, this prompted me to think about the numerous customs many of us practice without really knowing their origins. So there you have it, the perfect family roots activity: Take a specific ceremony (and we have lots of them), ask your students what customs they have for it, then give them an assignment of sitting down with their parents/grandparents to trace the custom’s origins. In the process, have a Shavua Tov.

Wonderful Italian Custom Connecting Tisha B’Av with Hanukkah

How can we take a traumatic event and give it a hopeful spin? Ask Italian Jews and they’ll give you the answer. Next week when you read Eicha – Lamentations – on Tisha B’Av in your synagogue by candlelight, don’t throw out the candle when you’ve finished the reading and blown it out. Take it home, wrap it up and store it in a safe place. Come Hanukkah, remove the candle from its wrapping and use it as the Shamash candle for lighting your Hanukkiah candles. What’s the logic behind this custom? On Tisha B’Av we mourn the destruction of the Holy Temple, but on Hanukkah we celebrate its rededication. Italian Jews use the candle to close the circle and to end Tisha B’Av on an optimistic note. Learning from history never hurts and in these tumultuous times an upbeat message is exactly what we need.
Have an easy fast…Tami