Hanukkah, Oh, Hanukkah! (Part II)

We had a fun and exciting class on Sunday. We talked all about Hanukkah traditions. Your child came home with their very own dreidel (sevivon in Hebrew) kit with everything you need to bring the tradition of playing the dreidel game to your home. In case your instructions get lost here is a copy of the ones I sent home: 

How to Play Dreidel (Sevivon)

Playing with the dreidel is a traditional Hanukkah game played in Jewish homes all over the world, and rules may vary. Here's how to play the basic dreidel game:

1.      Any number of people can take part in this great game.

2.       Each player begins the game with an equal number of game pieces (about 10-15) such as pennies, nuts, chocolate chips, raisins, matchsticks, etc.

3.      At the beginning of each round, every participant puts one game piece into the center "pot." In addition, every time the pot is empty or has only one game piece left, every player should put one in the pot.

4.      Every time it's your turn, spin the dreidel once. Depending on the outcome, you give or get game pieces from the pot:

   a)      Nun means "nisht" or "nothing" [in Yiddish]. The player does nothing.
   b)      Gimmel  means "gantz" or "everything" [in Yiddish].  Player gets everything in the pot.
   c)      Hey means "halb" or "half" [in Yiddish]. The player gets half of the pot. (If there is an odd number of pieces in the pot, the player takes half of the total plus one).
   d)      Shin (outside of Israel) means "shtel" or "put in" [in Yiddish]. Peh (in Israel) means "pay." The player adds a game piece to the pot.

5.      If you find that you have no game pieces left, you are either "out" or may ask a fellow player for a "loan."

6.      When one person has won everything, that round of the game is over!

(adapted from My Jewish Learning)

Here are some fun photos of the kids with their dreidel kits: 

In honor of winter break I thought I would take a break from my usual array of postings and stick to the fun and light stuff this week. Think of it as my Hanukkah present to you. In fact, I think I will leave you with EIGHT fun hanukkah links to play with over break. 

Happy Hankkah:

1. A couple of you requested the link for the Maccabeats video that was shown during Tefillah on Sunday  . . .  They are an a capella  group from Yeshiva University. 

2. They have a new Hanukkah video this year. It is sweet, but I don't like it as much. But you decide. 

 3. The Dreidel kits we made in class this week came from a great listing a Hanukkah crafts that I found here: 

Babble: 25 Hanukkah Crafts

4. This is an easy latke recipe that is kid friendly and uses frozen hashbrowns.I used it my kindergarten class. It is totally cheating but great for beginners, picky eaters or those of us who don't have time to make latkes from scratch. 

Super Easy Kid Friendly Latke Recipe:

1 package frozen shredded hash browns (30oz), defrosted

1 cup diced onion (optional)

3 eggs

1 teaspoon sea salt (to taste)

2-4 tablespoons flour

Vegetable oil

In a large mixing bowl, combine potatoes, onions, eggs, salt and flour.

Take a golf ball size amount of batter and pat until mostly flat, repeat.

Fry latkes in a hot frying pan with vegetable oil until golden brown on each side.

Place done latkes on paper towel to drain. Then serve with apple sauce or sour cream.

5. Want to try something different in the Latke department this year? This website has some great recipes including "green latkes" and "apple pear latkes". Check out the whole list at Kveller.com: Not Your Mama's Latkes 

6. Our youngest class members and some of our younger siblings might really enjoy this cuteness (Baby Bear playing Dreidel)

7. If you haven't yet discovered Oy Songs!  check it out. It is the Jewish equivalent of itunes. Right now, in the lower left hand corner they have a special Hanukkah section with tons of great Hanukkah songs to buy for your ipod or computer.

8. I thought for my last little Hanukkah web "gift" I'd leave you with some more fabulous photos of your awesome kids. Enjoy!

(for the life of me I cannot get these last two to rotate, but they were too cute to pass up. I swear that sign was all Leo's idea!) 

I will be taking a break from posting over break. We will see you and your back on Sunday Jan 8th for a family day. 

Have a great vacation and happy new year!!

-Suzan

Hanukkah, Oh, Hanukkah!

Wow! Can you believe that we are already starting to talk about Hanukkah? Yup, it is that time of year again. Even Target is on board this year with a great selection of Hanukkah decorations and gifts (at least at my Target in Emeryville)

(I Love this plate I saw there last week)

But on a more serious note, Hanukkah can be an overwhelming time for families. It can bring up feelings for kids and parents alike. Sometimes we feel left out, or like we have to compete with Christmas. In interfaith families it can be hard to juggle different traditions and emotions. This week and next week I will try to offer you some fun and interesting resources to help you sort it all out. . . though this is only the beginning there is so much out there  . . .so lets start at the beginning.

If you need help with the basics, such as the meaning of Hanukkah or the blessings, start here:
Interfaith Family: Guide to Hanukkah 

and there is even a great video about how to light the Hanukkah candles:

For those who are looking how to bring a little more meaning to Hanukkah gift giving here is a great article about how to decrease some of materialism of Hanukkah while still having fun: 


Ritual Well: Hanukkah Gifts


In this article Rabbi Rona Shapiro of Rituwell offers the following ideas for gift giving:

• Big Gift Night (when each child gets one big gift from us)
• Grandparent Night (when they open gifts from their grandparents)
• Book Night ( a book from us)
• Music Night (when we sing, sometimes with friends)
• Cooking Night (when we make latkes and enjoy them with friends)
• Tzedakah Night (when we wrap presents to deliver to a children's hospital or other charity)
• Homemade Gifts (lots are drawn before Chanukah and each member of the family makes a gift for someone else).

Obviously, there is room to do lots more here. Each year before Chanukah I draw up a list of which night will be what and post it on the refrigerator, so everyone knows what to expect."

Here is article about "The December Dilemma" and how Hanukkah's proximity to Christmas has influenced how it is received and celebrated. Great food for thought and really interesting reading. 

My Jewish Learning: December Dilemma 

 


And lastly, so you have plenty time to check them out for Isaiah's Library or your local library or to order online in time for gift giving, here are a couple of my favorite Hanukkah books for young kids:

Enjoy! I'm looking forward to seeing you all this Sunday 12/4 for a Family Day!!
-Suzan

 

Ha Motzi, Rosh Hodesh and Thanksgiving!

Hello All, 
I have a few slightly connected items for you this week. First, in class the students learned all about Rosh Chodesh, the Jewish celebration of the new month that comes with the new moon.
For those of you that might be new to the subject or need a refresher, here is nice link:  


My Jewish Learning : Rosh Choedesh

We also talked about how Jewish months are different from our "regular" months. I thought you might like this visual calendar that shows how they line up:  

Secondly, you may have noticed that your student came home with a placemat that looked something like this: 

(Don't Grace and Henry make great models?) 

We made these a couple of weeks ago as part of our discussion about food blessings. It took them a while to be laminated but now they are home to you just in time to add a little thankfulness to your Thanksgiving table. 

And, on a related note, 

I stumbled on a interesting and throught provoking Thanksgiving article about gratitude and parenting in Tablet Magazine You should consider book marking Tablet, I have it in my bookmarks. It has tons of great articles on contemporary Jewish culture and politics. 
The gratitude article can be found here and is worth reading:

How to Teach Your Kids to be Greatful by Marjorie Ingall 

I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving. There is no class this Sunday, I will see you back for a family program on 12/4. We have all sorts of fun Hanukkah things planned for you!


-Suzan

Shabbat Together!

I really enjoyed our Shabbat stations activity with all of you on Sunday. I had spent Sat. night in our youth lounge with our 9th graders and was a little tired but seeing all of you and the smell of fresh Challah woke me right up! 


I have a few links connected to Sunday's program to share with all of you along with some fun pictures.

First, for those of you who might want to check out a God Cast torah portion video at home the web site is:
http://www.g-dcast.com/ 
You might try watching one right before a family Shabbat dinner. You can continue the conversation about the portion over dinner.

Some of you asked where I got the dough for the Challah we made. I bought it in the freezer section in Safeway. It is white sandwich bread dough. You let it defrost overnight, then let it rise for a few hours, braid and bake it according to the package. Its not quite as good as homemade but still fills your home with that yummy bread smell and it is fun to braid.  
Here is what the package looks like:

For those of you want to take your Challah to the next level, here is a video about how to braid a beautiful 6 strand challah:

And, lastly, here is sweet list of easy, kid friendly ways to bring a little Shabbat into your home from a fellow blogger:
Kid Friendly Shabbat Ideas 

My favorites:
"When my kids were little, we had a special “shabbat box” of toys that were ONLY for shabbat. when the day got a bit long, especially in the summer, we would bring this out and it worked like a charm to keep them occupied for a couple of hours while the adults either chatted or, you know, NAPPED!!! We made sure to stock it with special “shabbat toys” that they then did not get during the week, like sparkle markers, stickers, shiny paper, one or two unique board games, their favorite TV character stuffed animals, etc. At the bottom of the box was a “treasure map” that they had to figure out to find a special shabbat snack we had hidden. Not shockingly, they always went for that first"
and
"I have a friend who only permits sugar cereal and other treats on Shabbat. I am continuing with a tradition from my childhood by declaring Shabbos a homework-free day!!!! I go off-grid. I do it for me AND for my kids. So that I can be fully present for and with them. Later bedtime on Shabbos."
(from Minnesota Mamaleh: 11 Kid Friendly Shabbat Ideas By 11 Fab Jewish Bloggers)


What are your favorite Shabbat traditions in your home? Feel free to share in a comment below. 

And now some fun photos from Sunday:

Sunday 11/20 is a Kids Only Day. We will all be back together again for a family day after Thanksgiving on 12/4 for Hannukah program!

Shalom,
Suzan

Sharing Shabbat

This week in class we started talking about Shabbat and how it is one life cycle event we are lucky enough to get to celebrate every week (as opposed to once a week or once a lifetime). We started talking about some of the symbols and rituals of Shabbat. We will continue to explore the traditions and themes of Shabbat this Sunday  (11/13/11) at our family program.

                       

I know that every family comes to the topic of Shabbat with a different set of experiences, practices and memories. Some of us may celebrate weekly Shabbat dinners in our home and incorporate Shabbat ritual and traditions into our routines on a regular basis. For others of us Shabbat may mean an occasional trip to temple for a Shabbat service or a "Got Shabbat" (if you haven't been to one of these wonderful, family oriented services at Temple Isaiah you should really try out a Got Shabbat ). For others of us Shabbat conjures up memories of childhood summer camp or families gatherings past. And for some of us it is still just a topic of books and Sunday School lessons, not something we have encountered first hand. Whatever the case may be, where ever you are in your knowledge and comfort level with Shabbat rituals and practices I always think that trying to add something new or different can be fun and a great way to bring oyur family together. We will be talking more about some of these ideas this Sunday. But I have included some great resources here to get you thinking.

Lets start with the basics. If you need to know the prayers for saying the Shabbat blessings in your home the URJ has a great page, complete with audio files so you can hear them:
URJ Shabbat Blessings
They also have other great Shabbat resources:
URJ Shabbat Resources


Check out Ritualwell's Shabbat page for some great articles with a more creative twist on Shabbat:
Ritualwell Shabbat Page
I particularly like this very short article that gets at the spirit of Shabbat:
Ten Commandments for Contemporary Shabbat

 If you are an interfaith family (or any family) you will LOVE this website:
http://www.interfaithfamily.com/
It has great resources on all the holidays and life cycle events and provides lots of basic knowledges on "doing Jewish". They have a great "pamphlet" on celebrating Shabbat that provides tons of great information inclduing the blessings and it is printer friendly:
Interfaith Family: Shabbat Made Easy

And lastly,

No you are not seeing double! Our class bear David has a twin brother, Eli. Eli LOVES Shabbat and he likes to travel. Each week he and his backpack of Shabbat goodies will be going home with a different family to celebrate Shabbat with your family. It is great opportunity to try out the Shabbat blessings if you don't usually do them or add some new excitement to your Shabbat routine. We will be starting with the K families and working our way up (some of you may have done this before in my class in Kindergarten and we will only repeat if we have time). I will have more details next week. If Eli comes home with you please complete a worksheet and return him the NEXT week (regardless of if it is a family week or not). If you'd like to pass just let me know.

I'm looking forward to seeing you all on Sunday 11/13 for a Family Day!

-Suzan