Hanuka-Around-the-World

We focused our attention during our Sunday session yesterday on Hanuka traditions from around the world. During our previous weekday session, we discussed the difference between "halacha" and "masoret" (see previous post). Today we learned about Hanuka traditions practiced in eight different edot (Jewish Diaspora communities). After I shared these traditions with the class, we divided up and each student or pair of students designed a poster illustrating one of these traditions.

Step 1 - set down your ideas for how to illustrate the tradition on a piece of scrap paper.

Some students had so many ideas, it was necessary to add "editing" in as Step 1A.

 Once the ideas were in place and agreed upon, it was time to choose the color poster board that would best serve the illustration, and begin to execute the ideas on it.

My two very creative and capable TA's, Ella and Kyra, were a great help when ideas were needed on which materials would best suit the illustration.

In case it's hard to count the candles upside down, there are 24 of them in each row on this poster, and Callen still isn't finished - just resting his painting arm!

As focused as each student was on the poster, there was still plenty of time to schmooze and catch up on the latest.

Below are the finished posters and a description of each illustrated custom:

 

EIGHT TIMES EIGHT - Many Persians practiced the religion of Zoroastrianism going back to ancient days. In this religion, the number 8 is a symbol of perfection. Jews living in Persia (modern-day Iran) adopted the belief in this symbol of perfection, and instead of lighting just one hanukiya each holiday, light 8 hanukiyot each day, so that on the 8th night of Hanuka they light 64 candles - the ultimate symbol of perfection (8 x 8).

COLLECTING WICKS - In Yemen, a custom arose among Arab children of collecting wicks for oil lamps from their neighbors and friends for a week, just prior to the winter. Jewish children adopted this tradition, and associated it with the Hanuka holiday, using the wicks they collected for their hanukiyot.

PINATA DREYDL - A common custom for many celebrations in Mexico is to hang a pinata filled with toys and sweets on a tree limb outdoors, then blindfold children and have them swing a stick, trying to break open the pinata. Jewish children adopted this custom, and on each of the 8 days of Hanuka, a huge, dreydl-shaped pinata is hung up, filled with candies and coins. Children must try to break it open while they are blindfolded.

HANUKA GELT - During the Middle Ages, Christians in Lithuania and the Ukraine handed out gold or silver coins to neighbors and friends at Christmas time. Jews living in these eastern European countries (and later in Poland and Russia as well), adopted this custom, and gave gold or silver coins to their children as rewards for successfully studying Hebrew and Torah. During the 1700's, this custom became associated with Hanuka, as well as with education.

EGGSHELL HANUKIYOT - In Kurdistan (northern Iraq), people were very poor, and couldn't afford special ritual objects. Jews there were no different. On Hanuka, for example, eggshells were used as the oil holder cups for the hanukiya.

BONFIRE OF WICKS - In Morocco, Jewish children are sent out on the 8th night of Hanuka to collect from neighbors and friends all leftover oil and wicks. That night, giant bonfires are created using these leftovers, and people sing and dance around the bonfire until the sun rises.

DOUBLE-DECKER HANUKIYOT - In Alsace (in France), families use "double-decker" hanukiyot, 8 candles on each of the two levels. Each level has its own shamash (servant candle) as well. This way, parents and children can light the candles together on the same hanukiya.

HANUKIYA MEZUZA - Jewish families in Tunisia, in North Africa, hang up their hanukiyot each year on the doorpost opposite the one on which their mezuza hangs. They light the candles each of the 8 nights while it hangs on the doorpost. They keep the hanukiya hanging there until Purim, about 3 months later.

After tefillah, when the students had all gone home, I created a "Hanuka-Around-the-World" bulletin board in the hallway. I tried to design it as a large hanukiya, with each of the 8 posters representing a Hanuka candle, and the flame in the middle representing the shamash (servant candle). Below are two views of it:

Now that we have learned about different Hanuka traditions from around the world, it's time to step back into our time machine and learn about the history of this Jewish national holiday and the historical roots of these traditions. We'll be doing exactly that during our upcoming weekday sessions.