By Raquel Mimran, Y9
Hanukkah is a Hebrew word that translates to “dedication” in English. The origins of the celebration come from when the Greeks wanted the Jews to worship idols and abandon Judaism, the small army led by Judah. The Maccabe fought to prevent that from happening, and they won. Once they had returned to the temple of Jerusalem they found oil that would normally last for just one day of the Menorah, however, as if by magic, the oil ended up lasting eight days.
What is Hanukkah?
Hanukkah can also be called the festival of lights, and it lasts 8 days. On these days you play with the dreidel, which is a spinner with Hebrew letters on them: nun, gimmel, hei, shin. They read “a great miracle happened here”. Some celebrators of Hanukkah have traditional foods they eat, and everyone gives out presents each day to whomever they want. The most significant act done during the celebration of Hanukkah is the lighting of the menorah. You have a candle in the middle, the “shamash” on either side of it, and four candles. On day one you light one candle and the shamash which translates to “attendant”, on day two you light two candles and the shamash etc until you reach eight.
Spirit week at LGB
Spirit week in La Grande Boissiere was a brilliant idea as it is a great way to discover and learn how other cultures celebrate their holiday traditions. One of the days was designated to the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah. On that day there were dreidels for people to play and various accessories showing it was Hanukkah. There were also polaroid cameras for people to take photos while they were learning and playing with the accessories.
There was music in the cafeteria and around the school, however, one thing they could have done differently was instead of putting English music translated into Hebrew, used music that is popular in Jewish culture. On the other days of spirit week there were some activities done like painting, or dancing for Diwali. For Hanukkah there wasn’t much as there aren’t traditions involving this kind of activity. What families can do is cook and eat but that is too complicated on school properties because of Covid, allergies and the time that is required for cooking.
An activity they did is showing the Menorah so that students could understand what it is. In the picture above we can also see the star of David which is a symbol that represents Jerusalem and being a Jew. There was also the Kippah, an accessory worn by men everyday or during special events. And lastly, the menorah.
The school should continue with these events so that we can get to know more about everyone’s cultures.
