Hanukkah Around the World at Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, California

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Charna Schakow via email. Charna is a teacher at Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, California. She is a teacher with a mission and that mission is to introduce her students to the different traditions of Jewish communities around the world.

That certainly is up my alley! I was delighted to find out that Charna is using my book Hanukkah Around the World as one of her references, as well as this blog. What particularly thrilled me is the poster project that Charna developed around different Hanukkah traditions.

For Charna's students, getting these posters together is a Hanukkah version of playing Beat the Clock. With the time ticking during a 45-minute lesson, the students are engaged and love every second. Kol Ha'Kavod!

How does Charna do it? Read all about it in her latest blog post. In the meantime, thanks to Charna I'm able to share some of the fabulous posters her students made and give you an idea for a different approach to a Hanukkah lesson -- if not this year, then next!  And don't forget, Passover is just 5 months away. My book Passover Around the World will help you adapt Charna's project idea to your Passover curriculum.

For now, presenting some of the posters made by Charna's students. Enjoy every one.

If you have a holiday project idea that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Book Time for Experiential Learning

Even though I live (at least) 6,000 miles away, I do travel to the States every year, keep up with many of you through email, and read about Jewish educational trends. While the PEW survey is the latest talk of the town, a careful examination of the results shows that there's a direct tie-in to another discussion -- the need for experiential learning in Jewish education.

I've heard from many of you about the latter and the need for it. All I can say is: you are so right! To make a positive Jewish impact on your children/students' lives you need engaging activities.  So, please excuse me if I take a week off from posting customs or interesting news from Israel for kids, and use this opportunity to plug my books. Much more than just a library title, they are alternative textbooks for the classroom, not to mention fun books to have at home.

I'll start with the Bible.

Tasty Bible Stories offers a delicious way of bringing the Bible to life. Read each story in the book (every one is written in a breezy, hip tone) and combine it with a cooking class by whipping up the matching recipes following each tale. It's definitely a way to get your students to sink their teeth into Bible stories.



Green Bible Stories for Children brings the Bible to a different level, making it relevant to 21st century ecological concerns. From bio-diversity to noise pollution, this eye-opening book shows that even long ago the Bible provided the original blueprint for environmental protection. This book consists of eight engaging stories told in a kid-friendly fashion, each of which is followed by 2-3 relevant, easy-to-do experiments or projects.

Next on the list -- Jewish Holiday Customs

My love for holiday customs did not start with this blog.  It all began with this book.

By reading Passover Around the World together with your students/children you will be able to create an unforgettable model seder in school or family seder at home. Take a trip across the globe by reading stories dealing with playful customs created by Jewish communities from as far as Iran to as close as your own backyard in North America. Can a child in the 21st century experience what it was like for the Children of Israel? In virtual terms, yes, if you follow the traditions in this book. And don't forget the delicious recipes accompanying each custom!

Hanukkah Around the World puts a different spin on this holiday that is so often referred to as the "December Dilemma" (fortunately, not this year). Why connect Hanukkah with Ho, Ho, Ho gifts when it has a story all of its own rooted to Israeli soil? Even better -- a variety of interesting, fun-loving customs created by Jews as far away as Australia and Italy. I especially love the Italian custom because it literally ties in with Tisha B'Av -- an important memorial day that never makes it to the Jewish school curriculum because it occurs during the summer. Finally, you will have a chance to make a meaningful connection but you'll have to get the book to find out how and why. Is there a food angle as well? Yum, yum, yes, with a recipe for every story.


Family Stories -- The Glue that Binds the Jewish People

Last week a friend of mine brought up an article recently published by the New York Times. Dealing with family stories, it reinforced the importance of giving children a sense that they are part of a larger family. Family tales ground children by giving them a feeling of stability and continuity -- exactly the ingredients we Jews need for the continuity of our people. For the past six years I have been going around the United States, giving presentations on my Jewish Heirloom Stories.

Each of these books -- Lotty's Lace Tablecloth and Mayer Aaron Levi and His Lemon Tree -- deals with a specific Jewish value revolving around an unconventional heirloom and the story behind it.  My presentation on these books is one of my most popular "talks" because I give kids an assignment -- bring in a family heirloom and tell the story behind it. It's not just the kids who love doing this "homework." It's the parents as well. They are eager to tell family tales.  These books provide them with the perfect venue by offering pages at the back of each book to write down a personal story. How do I know these books are valuable additions to every child's personal library? Lotty's Lace Tablecloth was recently made a PJ Library selection.

Find out about my other books by taking a virtual book tour. Interested in a presentation on Shabbat Customs Around the World? Perhaps a virtual author visit? I offer these as well. All you have to do is contact me to get more information.

Thanks for giving me this opportunity to explain how I can be part of your experiential learning program.
Bye for now. I'll be back next week with a new holiday custom.
Kol Tuv.
Tami

For North African Jews the 7th Hanukkah Candle Marks the Beginning of the Daughters Festival

Who says that Hanukkah is only about miracles and heroes? This holiday is marked by heroines as well, which is why North African Jews have tapped the 7th night of Hanukkah as the beginning of Chag Ha'Banot --  the Daughters Festival.

While in the West the story of Hannah and her seven sons is a favorite tale attached to Hanukkah, Jews coming from Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco place the focus on Judith. The Heroine of the Book of Judith -- a book in the Apocrypha bearing the same status as the Book of Maccabees -- Judith single- handedly saved her people by killing Holofernes, the Assyrian general determined to destroy Judith's home town of Bethulia. Her victory is associated with the Maccabean revolt, to the point that she is depicted on many medieval menorahs.

The North African tradition of Chag Ha'Banot coincides with Rosh Chodesh Tevet. It's a logical combination since traditionally, Rosh Chodesh is a holiday associated with women. The difference is that while Rosh Chodesh originally marked a mini-rest from household chores, Chag Ha'Banot has a host of customs associated with it: mothers give their daughters gifts; mothers also go to synagogue to kiss the Torah and pray for the health of their daughters; it's also a time of reconciliation between girls at odds with each other, and a time for women old and young to come together and hold a joint celebration -- usually a feast marked by cheese dishes because legend has it that Judith fed Holofernes salty cheese that made him thirsty enough to consume huge quantities of wine, fall asleep and get beheaded (by Judith of course).

What to do with these customs in practical, contemporary terms? In addition to putting women on an equal heroic footing, personally I like the idea of reconciliation, especially in this day and age of school bullying.

Here's another suggestion from my son Avihai -- a wordplay that ties in nicely with reconciliation. Take the Hebrew words Habanot (daughters) and Havanot (understanding). Spelled in Hebrew without vowels they look identical -- הבנות. Clearly, reconciliation is the big winner of this celebration.
Chag Ha'Banot Sameach!


P.S. For Jewish trivia lovers, Hanukkah is the only holiday that takes place during two different months. It starts in Kislev and ends in Tevet.

Girls Hugging Photo Credit

Photo Credit: Painting of Judith beheading Holofernes

There's No "December Dilemma" If You Adopt & Adapt This Hanukkah Custom From Gibraltar

I will admit that the phrase "December Dilemma" is new to me. It's the type of disconnect that happens after living 35 years in Israel. I first heard it two weeks ago from a friend in Rockville, Maryland, explaining how her synagogue's sisterhood invited a speaker to talk on the topic. My initial reaction was clever copywriting, but since that conversation I've seen the phrase appear in several articles.

Gift giving seems part and parcel of the "December Dilemma." Why feel that you have to keep up with the Christmas stocking? This year give the gift of light every night by adapting a Hanukkah custom from Gibraltar.  While it calls for lighting one Menorah using wicks and oil for the entire family, the best part is reciting a different phrase every night from Tehilim that connects with light.

How does this solve the "December Dilemma?" Here are my thoughts. Let kids earn their gifts. Turn them into Bible detectives and ask them to find a different source each night using the word light. Try this for a jump start: go to the book of Genesis and Let there be light.


Want an American connection as well? That's simple and it's even Jewish.


Our lady of liberty represents a guiding light to freedom -- a wonderful tie-in to the story of the Maccabees.

And what about the famous poem connected to the Statue of Liberty?
It may not actually use the word light, but the concept is embedded in its words. The Jewish connection? Emma Lazarus, of course. While today she is famous for her poem "The New Colossus," during her lifetime she was known for her work "Songs of a Semite." It was written after experiencing a reawakening of her Jewish heritage. Something to contemplate this year while "battling" the "December Dilemma".

Happy Hanukkah!

Hanukkah Candles Photo Credit
Statue of Liberty Photo Credit

On Hanukkah, Galician Jews Knew How to Play Their Cards

Playing cards during the day? Oy Vey!

As far back as the 15th century, the Ashkenazim of Worms, Germany forbade this indulgence – except during Hanukkah, and even then the Rabbis debated its function. Clearly, the “ayes” won, as card playing continued to be a Hanukkah custom that eventually spread to the Galician city of Rzeszow, in south-eastern Poland, where they played a card game similar to Black Jack. On Hanukkah, Heder (lower Yeshiva) students stopped learning for several hours a day to play cards or watch others play. What was interesting were the cards themselves. Hanukkah playing cards had four nicknames: “Kvitlech” meaning little notes – a name that we connect today to the “kvitel” bearing wishes that we fold up and tuck into the crevices of the Wailing Wall; “Klein Shass”, which means a small Talmud; “Tilliml”, representing a small book of Psalms; and “Lamed Alefniks” – the “thirty-oners” representing the 31 kings of Canaan mentioned in the Book of Joshua. Even more important was who made the cards. In Poland, no one ever heard of the company Bicycle Cards. It was up to the teachers or children to hand paint each card.

I’m sure you see where I’m heading. In this day and age of virtual everything, it’s nice to go back to some home-grown, hands-on activities, especially when we’re looking for new ways to connect students to the messages of Hanukkah. Adapting an age-old Hanukkah custom to the contemporary classroom might just do the trick. Hanukkah is all about celebrating heroism, courage and religious freedom. There are enough heroes, heroines, religious symbols and even food to draw on for creating a hand-made Hanukkah card game where you decide the type of game and how many cards make the deck.

Now there's an ace up your sleeve!

You can read about eight other fascinating Hanukkah customs and try some yummy Hanukkah recipes when you buy my book Hanukkah Around the World. You can purchase it through Kar-Ben’s online store, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or ask your local Jewish book store.