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.

Fried Cheese Blintzes for Hanukkah? Sephardim Shed Light on Why it is Customary to Eat Dairy Foods.

Guess what? There are two dairy holidays in the Jewish tradition. That is, if you come from a Sephardi background. We all connect dairy with Shavuot. But Hanukkah? Yes, Hanukkah. If your ethnic roots are Kurdish or Persian, then you're eating dairy delights on Hanukkah.

Sephardi women love to cook, so it’s no coincidence that this custom directly relates to one of the Hanukkah heroines. Maccabim aside, who else knew how to live by the sword and make the enemy die by the sword? Judith, of course. An attractive, seductive, wealthy widow, she knew how to milk a situation for all its worth. That’s why when the Assyrian general Holofernes blockaded the city she lived in and cut off its water supply, Judith understood what had to be done. She went to the general’s camp and pretended to surrender. Holofernes was so struck by Judith’s good looks that he invited her into his tent. Judith came armed with just the right weapons – wine and cheese. The combination was even more delectable than Judith’s beauty. The general ate, drank and didn’t have a chance to make merry because he fell into a drunken sleep. A slumber so deep that Judith easily beheaded him and saved her people from the siege. To honor Judith’s daring deed, Sephardim eat dairy and fried foods on Hanukkah.

What does this mean for your classroom? A lot. To begin with, it opens the window on Hanukkah’s heroines. Who were these women who showed their mettle? The girls in your class will be happy to know and the boys will learn a lesson or two about female bravery. Next, what about your Hanukkah celebration? Ask some of the parents to help you out with a Hanukkah cottage cheese noodle kugel or fry up some classic cheese blintzes that fit the double bill of dairy foods fried in oil. Want the kids to “cook” on their own? Mixing granola with yogurt and topping it with fresh or dried berries is easy to do. How about a “7-layer cream cheese cake” made from whole wheat bread and low-fat cream cheese? I just thought of these two options off the top of my head, so I can imagine the creative “cooking” ideas you’ll come up with. Whatever dairy dish you decide to bake or make, enjoy and have a Hanukkah Sa'meach.

Don’t forget, you can buy my book Hanukkah Around the World through Karben’s on-line book store, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, or your local Judaica store.

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.

Mexican Jews Laugh It Up During Havdalah

Long before Laughter Yoga hit North American shores, Jews in Mexico understood that a good giggle is one of the best ways to start the week. To that purpose they created a custom that I would like to name

HA-HA-HAvdalah. It goes like this: before the head of the house recites the blessing over the spices, the entire family laughs out loud. It’s their way of welcoming a happy week. When I asked “Why laughter?” the Mexican woman who told me about this custom broadly smiled and replied: “Laughter helps you accept your life.” Sounds good to me. After all, haven’t we all been told at one time or another to “laugh off” whatever bothers us? And aren’t there studies indicating that laughter is the best way to relieve stress, feel happy, strengthen your immune system, diminish pain and more? If there’s one thing that’s contagious that each and every one of us wants to catch, it’s a good laugh. Laughter is the only medication that doesn’t cost a penny and is guaranteed to make you feel better immediately. So here’s what I’d like to suggest: Lighten up your students’ life by jump-starting the week with a small dose of laughter. Whether it’s Sunday Religious School or Monday back to school, begin the day with a roaring Shavua Tov ritual. Adapt the Havdalah service to the classroom, share it with your colleagues and let the school shake with gales of laughter.

Repeat after me: HA-HA-Havdalah, HA-HA-Havdalah, HA-HA-Havdalah.

Shavua Tov…Tami

Combine a Kibbutz Rosh Chodesh Custom with Shabbat Rosh Chodesh and You have the Makings of a Wonderful Kaballat Shabbat

A good friend of mine used to live on Kibbutz Sa’ad – a B’nei Akiva kibbutz located in Israel’s southern region. Sitting next to her in synagogue yesterday on Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, I asked her if the kibbutz had any special Rosh Chodesh customs. She longingly licked her lips, remembering the yummy fresh rolls given to each kibbutz member for the Rosh Chodesh meal. My mind immediately began to hyper wander. First to my Rosh Chodesh post last year, where I mentioned that in days of yore Rosh Chodesh was celebrated through a delicious feast. Then I thought of the numerous specialty rolls sold on today’s market – seven-grain, plain, seeded, tomato herb, onion, marble and so much more, each topped with an equal amount of unusual seeds and grains. Many rolls are even braided. Finally, I started thinking about Kabbalat Shabbat and how to integrate this custom into the classroom. The answer came on Motzei Shabbat when I Googled Rosh Chodesh, only to discover that in many Sephardic communities there is a custom for women to light candles without a blessing. “There it is,” I said to myself. Combine the Kibbutz custom of a mouth-watering roll with the Sephardi candle lighting custom and you have the ingredients for a wonderful classroom Kabbalat Shabbat Rosh Chodesh. After all, the next Shabbat Rosh Chodesh is only four months away. Adar Aleph (this is a Jewish Leap Year, with two months of Adar) starts on February 5th – another Shabbat Rosh Chodesh. Add some hot chocolate for the winter weather and you’ll be set.
Chodesh Tov…Tami

In Lisbon, Hakafot Have a Sense of Military Efficiency

Zvuvi has decided to go on vacation this week, so that I can send out a Simchat Torah custom. This time we’re going to Lisbon, Portugal, where Hakafot are somewhat akin to a military operation – in kinder words, Yekke efficiency, Sephardi style.
Hakafot in Lisbon are strictly an evening activity held on Erev Simhat Torah. The sense of a military operation comes with the organization of the event. There are approximately 30 Sifrei Torah standing on a bench dedicated to them. Each male member of the congregation receives a card ahead of time, informing him which Sefer Torah he is to take and for which Hakafa. For instance, your card says that you are to take Sefer Torah #26 for the 3rd Hakafa. The Hakafa seems to be a personal event, with one person at a time holding a Sefer Torah going around the Bima only once. When the Hakafa is finished you return to the Sefer Torah bench, waiting for the next “soldier.” When he takes his Hakafa turn you remain at the bench, standing guard over the Sifrei Torah until the next rotation. The epitome of Rules & Regulations, this custom can be easily adapted to the classroom in a variety of ways. I leave it up to your imagination.

Speaking of the classroom, I thought it might be interesting to find out when the holiday of Simhat Torah as we know it first began. All it took was a little Googling and I discovered the interesting facts behind an evolutionary holiday: The Jews of Babylonia invented this holiday, its name and the dancing associated with it. In the 12th Century, the French added the Attah Horeita verses. At the beginning of that same century, Spain’s Jews began reciting the beginning of Bereishit by heart. Ping Pong back to the the Jews of France who at the time instituted the concept of Khattan Bereishit reading the beginning of Bereishit. By the early 15th century, evening Hakafot were instituted in Ashkenaz. How did the number of Hakafot reach 7? The ARI and his students in sixteenth-century Safed were responsible for that addition, making sure the Hakafot should be around the Bimah – most probably copying the bride’s circling her groom seven times under the khuppa. All this illustrates that customs do not stay stationary, they evolve. If you have a new and interesting Simhat Torah custom, please share it with us.
Chag Sameach…Tami

Good Samaritan. Great Sukkah!

It takes a good Samaritan to come up with a creative solution on how to commemorate holiday customs while at the same time avoid persecution. That’s exactly what happened with the Samaritans’ building of a Sukkah. However, before I divulge this unusual custom, let’s first examine the origins of today’s Samaritans.

While the phrase "A Good Samaritan" is commonly associated with Christian beliefs and a kindly person in a Jesus parable, Samaritans – Shomronim in Hebrew – actually hail from Samariah, or as it is called in Israel, the Shomron. The Samaritan religion is an ancient form of Judaism. It is monotheistic, believing in the God of Israel and the Five Books of Moses, in addition to adhering to the ways of the Torah. In fact, the Samaritans claim that they are the real thing – their faith is the true religion of the ancient Israelites. Despite the Babylonian Exile, they remained in the Land of Israel, practicing the religion as laid down in the Torah, while Diaspora Jews developed their own Talmudic codes.

The Samaritans started out as a large people but their numbers shrank, especially under Byzantine rule when they were severely persecuted. It is precisely at this point that they began their unusual Sukkah tradition. In order to avoid persecution and vandalism by their neighbors, the Shomronim resorted to building their Sukkot indoors. A tradition that started out for reasons of safety has today evolved into an event of exceptional beauty. Today’s Samaritans – all 700 of them – continue to build their Sukkot inside their homes, with many erecting permanent wall and ceiling mounts for assembling the sukkah frame. The ceiling mount is especially strong since Samaritans create the most unusual and breathtaking, enormous ceiling fruit montages from large, colorful, succulent fruits. Picture themes are developed, with each Sukkah decoration connected to an associated topic. In essence, a Samaritan Sukkah is a spectacular work of art and a major attraction for Israelis who come to enjoy the colorful setting and experience warm Samaritan hospitality. Israelis who do not want to travel beyond the Green Line need not go to Samariah for such an event. Since 1954, half of the Samaritan community has been living in Holon – a city adjoining Tel Aviv. The remaining half live in the village of Kiryat Luza on Mount Grizim, above the West Bank city of Nablus (in Hebrew, the biblical Sh’khem).

Can you adapt this custom to your classroom? Absolutely. All it takes is a little creativity. Since you can’t mount live fruit montages of Samaritan magnitude, how about making fruit montage sculptures based on a specific theme and hold a Sukkah exhibit? Alternatively, have your students draw wall hangings of fruit montages and display the fruits of their labor. If not this year, then next, and may your creative juices bear the fruits of your labor.
Chag Sameach…Tami