As we get close to breaking up I hope you’ve had time to enjoy both our Christmas and Hanukkah resources in the last days of term.
I showed the Hanukkah animation to my two sons as my husband’s family are Jewish and I wanted them to give the boys an understanding of what the festival is all about. Following on from that I took my youngest son into Oxford at the start of the week to see the twelve foot high Hannukah menorah (sometimes called a hannukiah) that currently stands in Broad Street and is illuminated each evening up to the end of the eight night festival. I thought this was particularly impressive until I saw this one which is currently residing in Trafalgar Square.
Taking a closer look.....
My children are still quite young and there is a lot to understand so I asked members of our family what Hanukkah meant to them as children.
My husband took some time to recall and then came back with these thoughts:
The candelabra that remained unused all year suddenly became the centre of attention for those special eight days of the year, and as children we all wanted to do was light it each evening. The story of Hanukkah tells of resistance and bravery, what better way to celebrate this than with laktas (potato pancakes) and beef brisket. And most importantly Grandpa always left large bars of chocolate for all of us.
And my sister-in-law didn’t really have particular Hanukkah memories to draw on but is now celebrating the holiday with her own children over in Guernsey. Each night they light the candles and say the blessings. And every night there is a small present for each of them (although it is rumoured that the presents ran out by the third day…)
Well whatever festivals and celebrations you are enjoying as you count down to the end of term, on behalf of everyone here at KnowledgeBox I’d like to wish you a happy Hanukkah, a merry Christmas and I look forward to seeing you back here in the New Year.
Kate
Publisher
Filed under: Lesson ideas, News
