We began each session by having all the 5th and 6th graders gather together with their friends in the Beit Knesset, where I read a summary of the events leading up to and including the Maccabean Revolt (i.e. the Hanuka story) while they all ate their snacks. Once everyone in the room knew the background story, we began the festivities.
First, we divided the students and their friends into four groups. Each group was assigned to create a 2-minute skit covering one fourth of the summary of the Hanuka story, with a "twist" attached to the assignment. This "twist" was a request to each group to perform their assigned portion of the story in the style of a well-known American cultural event or story, which the audience would have to guess. Once the assignments were handed out, each group went to a separate classroom to prepare its assigned skit, led by one or more teachers and Avodah TA's. After 20 or so minutes, we all gathered back in the Beit Knesset to enjoy the performances.
The four "twists" this year were: a football game, Indiana Jones, superheroes and Frozen. Below are a few of the skits I caught on video - see if you can guess which "twist" each was trying to convey as they re-told their assigned portion of the Hanuka story. (Answers to "twists" are at the end of this post.)
Once each group had performed its skit and the audience had a chance to guess what the "twist" was (and they did guess all of them both days!), I asked the group to think about what the most important point of their part of the story was, and to be sure to include it, along with the "twist," as they performed it in half the time they took to perform the skit originally. We did this 2 or 3 times, until they had only 10-20 seconds to perform the entire skit, leaving in the important lesson it taught. To say that there was quite a lot of laughing and loud encouragement from the audience as each group tried to get it all performed in just a few seconds is an understatement!
Once all the groups had performed, each track went to its own classroom for more activities. In our Edot classroom, we used the time to play the dreydl game, using Skittles candies to bet with.
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| Each group or pair of students began the game by putting two Skittles into the "pot." |
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| Our Edot students became Hebrew letter scholars, and shared which letter was showing each time one of their friends spun the dreydl. |
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| Our Hebrew Through Movement exercises helped a lot - everyone recognized the Hebrew letters immediately! |
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| Some preferred to stand when they spun the dreydl, and others preferred sitting. |
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| Michael decided to play against himself, and had a wonderful time doing so! |
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| Before we began to sing Hanuka songs, Rabbi Greninger asked JQuest students to share the Hebrew names for important parts of our Sanctuary. Here, she has just opened the doors to the "aron ha'kodesh" (the Holy Ark) which holds 5 Torah scrolls. Notice also the "ner tameed" (eternal light) hanging above the Ark. The Hebrew letter "shin" can be seen reflected by the light on it. "Shin" is the first letter of one of the names of God - Shaddai (often translated as "Almighty"). |
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| Here's a photo I caught of the "shin" on the "ner tameed" in the dark. |
O Hanuka, O Hanuka:
The Dreydl Song: ("S'veevon, Sov Sov Sov"):
On that note, with our heads and bodies still in spinning mode, it was time to say goodbye to our friends, and also to each other since this was the final session of the fall semester. We're back in school again on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 3rd and 4th.
Let me wish you all a very happy Hanuka, and a happy New Year!
CHAG HA'OOREEM SAME'ACH! HAPPY FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS!
("Twist" answers: video 1 = a football game; video 2 = Indiana Jones; video 3 = Frozen; video 4 = a football game)
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