Channukah is coming!

Today as I was walking around, I was grinning ear-to-ear as I watched everyone getting ready for Channukah.  All the classes were singing their songs for next week and reminding themselves about the story.  I heard so many interesting questions in the class.  In fourth grade I overheard one of the students asking why there are nine candles if the miracle was for eighth nights.  In the fifth grade, one of the students asked why we get presents for seven different nights (one of the other 

students reminded the class that one of the nights is tzedakah night).  These sorts of questions show how much our students are really learning and thinking about the holiday and traditions.  We aren’t just learning about the basic story, but really 

probing deeply into the questions on the specifics.  This also makes us as teachers work and think harder about theses types of questions.  Overhearing these questions made me think about the Channukah story in a new light, and especially the idea of the numbers that we use to represent the holiday – nine candles, eight days/nights, five Macabees, and one night of tzedakah.  I think that the importance of Channukah is not only the miracle that the oil lasted seven more days that it was supposed to, but also that we as a community can still teach the story of Channukah in such a way that we ask our students to probe into these questions.  I love that about this holiday, the community and spirit of fun that is associated with it.  I am so excited to feel this fun even more next week when we all gather together to sing and celebrate!   

Until next week;
Sarah Surrey (Gan Teacher and Communications)