PLANNING A HANUKAH HAPPENING

Contents

1. Cover page
2. Explanation: Plan A Hanukah Happening in Your Classroom
3. Play: Hannah and Her Seven Sons (with puppets)
   
   Stick Puppets:
   • Son 1
   • Son 2
   • Youngest son
   • Hannah
   • King Antiochus
   • The Idol
4. TV Interviews:
   • Interview of Suffie Sufganea
   • Interview of King Antiochus
   • Interview of Mrs. S'vivon
5. Making Pancakes
6. Making a Hanukah Mural

Plan a Hanukah Happening in Your Classroom Preparation:

Divide your class into several groups according to the number of stations you prepare.
Give each pupil a badge with a Hanukah symbol such as Menorah, Sufgania, Candle, Dreydl, and Hanukah Gifts.
Ask for the help of several parents who can assist at the different stations.
Explain what will be done at each station to the children several days in advance and get their help in bringing needed materials.

Stations:

Puppet Show: Hannah and Her Seven Sons.

Prepare seven scripts for the characters in the play.
Prepare stick puppets by coloring figures included here and pasting them onto cardboard. These figures can also be laminated. Another possibility is to provide simple props and encourage pupils to act out the script.

T.V. Interviews:

Interview Suffie Sufganea, Mrs. S'vivon, King Antiochus, Judah Macabee, etc.
Prepare props for interviewees such as a wreath for the king and crowns with Hanukah symbols for s'vivon and sufgania.
This station needs an interviewer for each interviewee.

Making Hanukah Pancakes:

Make a large recipe card for the wall:

• Print the instruction for making potato pancakes (latkes) on large strips of paper.
• Have children order the instructions on the board.

Hanukah Mural:

Prepare short stories on three different levels.
Copy each sentence of every story on pieces of cardboard and put them into three different envelopes according to the levels.
The students must read the sentences, arrange them in the correct order and then decide how to illustrate them on the Hanukah Mural.
Pupils can cut pictures from magazines or draw their own illustrations.

Mural Puzzle Sentences:

Supplies: Several large white sheets of paper, magic markers, magazines, and scraps will be needed.

1. Copy some sentences on pieces of cardboard.
2. Cut the sentences into two pieces.
3. The pupils must match the parts of the sentence and draw a picture on the mural that fits the sentence.
4. They can also write the sentence on the mural.

Overall instructions:
Each station will not take the same amount of time.
Pupils who have prepared the potato pancakes can move on to the Games Station.
Give groups 20-25 minutes at a station, then ring a bell and have the groups move on.
Not every child will get to every station.
Leave time at the end of the Hanukah Happening to sit down together.
Have one group present their play and one group present their interviews before the entire class.
You can conclude by singing Hanukah songs in English.
These ideas can of course be presented to the entire class, or less than five stations can be used at a Hanukah Happening.

Hannah and Her Seven Sons - A Puppet Play

Characters:
Storyteller, King Antiochus, Hannah, Son 1, Son 2, Son 3

Materials needed: Stick puppets or hand puppets, puppet stage, script.

Character Images

Script

Storyteller: Long ago King Antiochus was king over many lands. When he came to Jerusalem he said ...
King Antiochus: I am now the king in this land. Here is my god Zeus. I want all the people to bow down to my god.
Storyteller: The people of the land were afraid.
Son 1: What can we do?
Son 2: We are Jews. We have one God.
Son 3: We cannot bow to Zeus.
Hannah: Yes, my sons. You are right. Jews cannot bow to an idol of stone.
Storyteller: The king commanded all the people to come and bow down to the idol, Zeus.
King Antiochus: Come one, come all and bow to the great god, Zeus.
Hannah: My sons, we must go before the King.
King Antiochus: Bow down to our god Zeus.
Son 1: I am a Jew. God has told me not to bow down to man or idol.
King Antiochus: You will bow down or die! Take him away soldiers! Bring in the next son.
Son 2: I cannot bow down to a stone.
King Antiochus: Take him away, soldiers!
Storyteller: And so each of Hannah's sons came before the King. None of them would bow down to the idol. At last the youngest son came to the King.
King Antiochus: Listen to me. You do not need to bow to the idol. l will drop my ring and you will pick it up. My people will think that you bowed to the idol.
Son 3: Great King, do what you want, but I cannot bow to Zeus.
Zeus is only a stone and not the toe God.
King Antiochus: I am the King of the land. You must obey me or die. Take him away soldiers!
Storyteller: And so the story of Hannah's brave sons who would not bow down to the idol was told in all the land. Even today we remember their courage and retell the story of their bravery.

Interviews

Interview of King Antiochus

Reporter: Today we have a special guest, King Antiochus, King of many lands.
Thank you King Antiochus for coming to speak to us.
We know that you are very busy. Where are you working now?
King: I am working in Jerusalem.
Reporter: Do you like Jerusalem ?
King Reporter:We heard you made some new laws. What are they? King:
Reporter: Do the Jews like these laws?
King:
Reporter: Will the Jews fight against you?
King: They want to fight. But we will win. Then all the people of the Greek Empire will have peace.
Reporter: Thank you for speaking with us, King Antiochus.

Interview of Mrs. S'vivon

Reporter: Would you like to sit down Mrs.S'vivon? You look very tired.
Mrs.S'evivon: Yes, I am very tired. I have been spinning all day.
Reporter: Can you tell me what are the letters on your body?
Mrs. S'evivon: The letters are
ðñ âãåì äéä ôä
They stand for “A Great Miracle Happened Here”.
Mrs. S'evivon: The miracle of Hanukah. It was a miracle when Judah Macabee fought the Romans and won.
Reporter: Mrs. S'evivon, can you tell me what you are made of?
Mrs. S'evivon: Yes, I can be made of wood, plastic or even clay.
Reporter: We hope you have a happy holiday, Mrs. S'evivon.
Mrs. S'evivon: Thank you. I just need a little rest. I love playing with the children at Hanukah time.

Interview of Suffie Sufganea

Reporter: Good morning, sir. What is your name ?
Suffie: My name is Suffie Sufganea.
Reporter: You look very sweet. What are you made of?
Suffie: I am made of flour and sugar. I have jam inside of me and I am fried in hot oil.
Reporter: Can you tell me when do children eat you?
Suffie: Children love to eat me during the eight days of Hanukah.
Reporter: You said that you are fried in oil.
Suffie: Yes, the oil reminds people that the oil in the Temple burned for eight days and eight nights.
Reporter: That was a miracle! You look so good. Can I have a little bite of you?
Suffie: No, no! You have to wait until Hanukah begins. Good - bye.

Make Potato Pancakes

Ingredients:

6 medium potatoes
• 1 medium onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup of flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:

1. Wash and peel the potatoes,
2. Grate the potatoes and the onion.
3. Drain the water from the potatoes.
4. Mix together the potatoes, onion and the other ingredients.
5. Drop a spoonful into the hot oil.
6. Brown the pancake on both sides.
7. Serve hot, Yum, Yum!

Mural Puzzle Sentences

1. Judah Macabee	is fighting the Romans.
2. Eight candles	are burning in the Hanukiah.
3. Mother	is making sufganiot.
4. The children	are playing with the S'vivon.
5. King Antiochus	is showing the people his idol Zeus.
6. Hannah	is speaking to her seven sons.
7. The grandfather	is giving Hanukah money to his grandson.

Hanukah Mural (First Level)
The Jews came into the Holy Temple. They broke the idols and cleaned the Temple.
They wanted to light the oil lamp, but there was no oil to be found.
A small boy found a pitcher of oil.
The oil burned not for one day but for eight days and eight nights.
Therefore we celebrate eight days of Hanukkah.

Hanukah Mural (Second Level)
The Jews living in the bunkers of the Warsaw Ghetto knew that Hanukkah was coming.
The did not have a proper hanukkiah or a s'evivon, but they did have some pieces of candles and a few potatoes.
They gathered together on the first night of Hanukkah and lit their candles.
They sang the blessings and hoped that they like the Macabees could have the courage to fight their enemies.

Hanukah Mural (Third Level)
Three youth smashed the glass in the window of a Jewish family in Pennsylvania and broke the hanukkiah on the windowsill.
They were sentenced to 250 hours of community work in the Jewish community.
In addition, they had to watch Spielberg's film “Schindler's List”, which deals with the Holocaust and to send a letter of apology to the family involved.
In the evening, after the boys had broken the hanukkiah, all the Christian families in the neighborhood lit hanukkiot and placed them on their windowsills.