HANUKKAH RESOURCES AND ACTIVITIES
By DR. SCOTT MANDEL
PACOIMA MIDDLE SCHOOL
LOS ANGELES, CA
This is a short play that your students can do as a "Reader's Theater" or act it out on stage before a larger group of students at your school. Within the play, the students can learn about the various customs and beliefs of the Hanukkah holiday.
SETTING:
an empty stage
CHARACTERS:
Shamash (acts like a director)
Candles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8THE PLAY:
SHAMASH: Okay people, it's time to get our Hanukkah play together. Now remember, each of you is a different candle. You all stand for something very special about Hanukkah. Each of you will come out here and tell the audience the special thing that you represent.
CANDLE 8: I stand for the presents!
SHAMASH: Get back in line! You are not the most important thing about Hanukkah!
CANDLE 8: Well I think that I'm important!
SHAMASH: Candle #1, what do you represent?
CANDLE 1: (Dramatically), "And Mattathias called out to the people after he killed the Syrian and the Jew who bowed down to the idol and said, 'Whoever is for God, follow me!'" I represent the devotion to God which brought a victory to the few over the many.
CANDLE 2: And with that victory, we won our freedom from the Syrians--freedom to live as Jews in our own land, just like today. I stand for that freedom.
CANDLE 8: And I stand for the presents that they gave each other after their victory!
SHAMASH: They didn't give each other presents! Get back in line and wait your turn. We have more important things to go over first! Candle #3?
CANDLE 3: (Struts out as a "muscular" person) I represent the heroes of the story. Judah the Macabee, his brothers and father, Hannah and her seven sons, Batman.
SHAMASH: What? Batman?
CANDLE 3: Well you didn't have to say that they all had to be Jewish heroes.
SHAMASH: Let's get serious, this isn't a Purim play! Candle #4, what part of Hanukkah do you represent?
CANDLE 4: I represent one of the most important parts of any Jewish holiday, the FOOD! Latkes with applesauce; gooey sufganiot!
CANDLE 8: I like my latkes with jelly or honey. I eat them right after I open my presents.
SHAMASH: Number 8! Now, number 4, as you were saying, the food. For those one or two in the audience who do not know what latkes and sufganiot are, can you explain what they are in English?
CANDLE 4: Sure. Latkes are potato pancakes which is an American and European Hanukkah food. Sufganiot are jelly doughnuts which is an Israeli Hanukkah food. I eat them both on Hanukkah.
SHAMASH: That sounds delicious! Moving on. Candle #5, tell us about the part of Hanukkah that you stand for.
CANDLE 5: "Oh Hanukkah, oh Hanukkah, a festival of joy!"
SHAMASH: Yes, we know it is. But what do you represent?
CANDLE 5: "Who can retell the things that befell us?"
SHAMASH: Obviously not you. You can't even retell your lines. As your director, I want you to tell the audience what you stand for.
CANDLE 5: "Rock of Ages, let our song, praise Your saving power!"
SHAMASH: Yes, as director of this play I know that I'm powerful--and call me SHAMASH, not Rock of Ages. Once again, what do you represent?
CANDLE 5: I represent all of the fun songs of Hanukkah; the music that makes the holiday special.
SHAMASH: Now I understand. Why didn't you just say so? Candle #6, it's your turn.
CANDLE 6: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8--like Hillel. Not 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1--like Shammai.
SHAMASH: Why do I feel I don't know what is going on? Candle 6, what are you talking about?
CANDLE 6: I represent the Hanukkah menorah and the lights. The great rabbi Hillel said that one lights one candle on the first night, two the second, and so on until there are eight candles lit on the last night. The great rabbi Shammai said the opposite--that one lights eight candles on the first night and only one candle on the last night. We follow Hillel's ruling, not Shammai's.
SHAMASH: Well, that sheds some light on the subject.
CANDLE 8: We always light the candles before we open our presents.
SHAMASH: The presents are the last thing that we will talk about! Get back in line! Now, Candle #7, what do you stand for?
CANDLE 7: Well, I had a little dreidle.
SHAMASH: That's interesting, any special kind?
CANDLE 7: Yes, I made it out of clay.
SHAMASH: Didn't that make it a little hard to spin?
CANDLE 7; No, you see, when it was dry and ready, THEN dreidle I would play. I represent the famous Hanukkah game, dreidle. Nes, gadol, haya, sham--a great miracle happened there. The four letters on the dreidle, nun, gimel, hay, shin, represent those four words!
SHAMASH: If we can get through this play without any more bad jokes, I'll say the Israeli version--nes, gadol, haya, po!
CANDLE 7: The Israeli version, nes, gadol, haya, po?
SHAMASH: Yes, a great miracle happened here.
CANDLE 8: Is it time now?
SHAMASH: Yes. I hate to call on this last candle, but Candle #8, you're on.
CANDLE 8: Thank you. I love to get Hanukkah presents. But I also love to give them. I love the smile I get when I give a present.
SHAMASH: I'm surprised--I wasn't expecting this seriousness!
CANDLE 8: Sure, even giving presents can be a serious and important business! Why every Hanukkah, I take one of my many presents and give it to a Jewish orphanage, or to a poor Jewish family--to a child who doesn't get any Hanukkah presents! It makes giving and getting presents even more special!
SHAMASH: That's really nice to hear--I'm proud of you and all of your friends up here today. Well folks, that's all the time we have for now. So, from eight little candles shining bright--we say Happy Hanukkah and good night.
submitted by
DR. SCOTT MANDEL
mandel@pacificnet.net
PACOIMA MIDDLE SCHOOL
LOS ANGELES, CA
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