Religion: Judaism

• religious belief

• people who follow Judaism are called Jewish or a Jew

Language: Hebrew

• a language native to Israel

• language of Jewish prayer

Temple/Synagogue

• Jewish place of worship

Hanukkah

• Hanukkah: a Jewish holiday that usually takes place in December. It lasts for eight nights and celebrates an old story about a miracle.

• The miracle: Many years ago, the Jewish people won a difficult battle to protect their temple. When they returned, they found only one small jar of oil to light the temple’s lamp. The oil should have lasted only one day, but it burned for eight days.

• Because of this, Hanukkah is also called the Festival of Lights.

Menorah

• candle holder

• SEVEN (7) candle branches

• for everyday use- 7 candles for 7 days of the week (middle is for the Sabbath- a day of rest)

• Sabbath in Judaism is on Saturday

Hanukkiah

• candle holder special for Hanukkah

• NINE (9) candle branches

• 8 candles for 8 nights, plus 1 more "helper" candle to light them (usually in the middle)

Latkes

• potato pancakes

• fried in oil

• often eaten with sour cream and/or applesauce

Sufganiyot

• jelly donut

• fried in oil

Why so many foods fried in oil?

• Oil is an important part of the story of Hanukkah.

• Judah Maccabee and his soldiers won a fierce battle and discovered their temple to be in ruins.

• After cleaning up, they only had enough oil to light the menorah for one night.

• But a miracle happened and the oil lasted for eight nights.

Dreidel

• a 4-sided top with Hebrew letters on each side

Gelt

• money

• usually chocolate "gold" coins

• given as a gift or used to play dreidel

How to Play Dreidel

• each person gets the same amount of coins and puts 1 or 2 in the middle pot (depending on # of players)

• take turns spinning the dreidel and follow what the dreidel says

• if the pot becomes empty, everyone puts 1 coin in

• if a player loses all their coins, they are out

• if a player gets all the coins, they win!

Dreidel Sides

• shin- put one in ("there")

• hey- half, get half ("happened")

• gimel- get all ("great")

• nun- nothing ("miracle")

Each side has a special meaning which together makes the Hebrew phrase: A great miracle happened there