Chanukah began on December 1 and continues until December 9, but our friends Cody and Emily managed to squeeze eight days' worth of festivities and excitement (and as many families!) into one delightful evening at their "Hanukkah Madness and the Dreidel of Fire" party Sunday evening.
Cody's mother is Jewish, and he and Emily and most of their friends are Presbyterian, so it was an educational event for most of us. They set out Hannukah coloring pages and books for the guests to color and read, while Cody fried up latkes (and chicken) for the feast.
After we stuffed ourselves, he gathered up the kids for a lesson on Chanukah care of The Rugrats. (Last year Cody did the honors himself, but he thought he'd try a more visual approach this time.)
Then it was time to light the Menorahs. They had three, including a Disney princess one! Every child who wanted to lit a candle.
When the menorahs were lit, a friend played the flute while we sang The Dreidel Song, and The Chanukah Song.
Then the chocolate geld was passed out so the kids could play the Dreidel game!
I have a little dreidel,I made it out of clayAnd when my dreidel's readyThen Dreidel I shall play.Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel,I made it out of clayDreidel, dreidel, dreidelThen Dreidel I shall play.
I thought the gambling for chocolate would never end, they were having so much fun! But then they put out Emily's star cake and cookies...
Thanks, Cody and Emily, for an amazing evening of Chanukah!
Chanukah, oh, Chanukah,
Let's light the menora,
Let's have a party,
We'll all dance the hora,
Gather round the table,
We'll give you a treat,
Dreidels to play with,
Latkes to eat,
And while we are playing,
The candles are burning low
One for each night,
They spread a sweet light
To remind us of days long ago.
7 comments:
Very nice post! I love all the activities...it has been a full week!
What a great night and how wonderful to get to be a part of it! We've never had such an opportunity and I would jump at the chance to learn more in such a fun way!
We have celebrated Hanukkah for 25 years..I married a Jew and I am a Christian..3 years ago my husband accepted Christ into his heart..We have not stopped celebrating..We made our own traditions all through out the years.. The one important thing that the Christian churches forget is that the Old Testament is still part of the Bible...We have been to many churches that don't teach anything about the Old..We finally found one that did.. This is the Church my husband accepted..It has been a wonderful journey with Russ..all my children have accepted Christ into their hearts...They all love the Jewish traditions.. We love Passover to... My daughter is the only one that can blow a Shofar...The only thing is that Hanukkah has become very commercialized like Christmas.. As a family with 4 children we couldn't afford 8 nights of gift giving and then Christmas on top of that...So we made our own traditions...Our Jewish relatives sent the kids presents and they opened them the first night...then every night it was only lighting the Menorah.. And Prayer and reflection..
The Jewish Bible is fascinating because it leaves out the passages that speak about the Lamb coming..I have learned alot through out the years and love the Jewish traditions and love my Christian faith...putting both together I feel whole...Lisa
such a small world!! i went to college with cody and emily. and that's my dear friend since jr high, esther, playing the flute! :)
What a fun night! I really love this idea.
I'm also a Christian, but really think the Jewish traditions would be meaningful to celebrate. How wonderful that your children were able to participate!
Lisa...Chanukah is not a gift giving holiday at all, that has started in part due to the pressures from Christmas. If anything a small trinket might be given but that is all.
The Menorah lighting the eating of latkes and the grandparents giving the grandchildren the Chanukah gelt along with spinning the dreidel is really all that needs to take place.
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