Hanukkah Lesson Objectives: To understand what Hanukkah commemorates and how it is celebrated To consider whether it is right to use violence to fight back against someone who is stopping you following your religion

Prep Illustrate the storyboard of the history of Hanukkah (using the sheet provided) and explain why it is important for Jews today.

Questions What two miracles does the festival of Hanukkah celebrate? What is a menorah? What does fried food symbolise? What is the purpose of the dreidel? Why is Hannukah important?

Antiochus, a Syrian king, tried to make the Jewish people worship Greek gods. A statue of Antiochus was placed in the Jewish temple and the Jews were ordered to bow down before him. The Ten Commandments commands Jews to only worship God and no other gods/statues, so they refused

Antiochus took over the Temple in Jerusalem and placed statues of Greek gods inside and ordered anyone who refused to worship them be killed. He forced the religious leaders to sacrifice pigs to Zeus (the Greek king of the gods) on the Temple’s altar.

Mattathias was one priest who refused to sacrifice a pig to the foreign gods. He fled with his family and formed a group to fight against Antiochus and his followers. Soon they had become a small army who regularly attacked the Assyrian forces. Because of their force they became known as the ‘Maccabees’ which means ‘hammerers’.

In 164 BCE the Maccabees regained control of the Temple and Jerusalem. They removed all of the statues of foreign gods. But when they came to light the menorah (the 7 lamp stand that represented God’s presence) they found there was not enough oil to keep it alight for more than just one day.

It would take at least 8 days to gain a fresh supply of oil. The Jews decided to light the lamps anyway to show that the presence of God had returned to the Temple After the first day people were surprised to see the lamps still burning. The lamps continued to burn without oil for 8 days until new oil had been made. Jews believe this to be a miracle from God as if God were saying ‘my presence will always be with you.’

Hanukkah is an 8 day Jewish celebration also known as the festival of lights. It celebrates the triumph of the Jews and the cleaning of the Temple after the foreign gods were removed. Jews celebrate this every year by lighting an extra candle each day (left to right) on a hanukiah, a nine candle stand, remembering the menorah that stayed lit for 8 days. The ninth candle is called the Shammash (servant) candle and is used to light the others.

Spinning the Dreidel: The Dreidel has for sides with a Hebrew letter on each: Nun, Gimmel, Heh, and Shin, or NGHS. These are the first letters of the words ‘Nes Gadol Heyah Sham’, meaning ‘a great miracle happened here.’ Each player has ten counters, and places one of their counters in the middle of their table. On each turn the Dreidel is spun.

Tasks Read pages and answer the following questions: 1) What miracle forms the background to the celebrating of Hanukkah? 2) What are dreidels and why do they play an important part in the celebrations of Hanukkah? 3) How are the people reminded of the miracle of Hanukkah through the food that they eat during the festival?

Thinking through the issues Is it right to use violence against an enemy if they are stopping you from following your religion? Write an answer explaining your opinion 1 paragraph: arguments for – yes. Some people may agree, because... 2: arguments against – no Some people may disagree, because... 3: your overall opinion – which view is stronger Overall, I believe....because...

Keywords bingo Draw a 3x3 grid in your books Choose 9 words from the upcoming list and but them in each square you need to know what they mean or you may miss your word when the definition is read out! The first person to get 3 in a row shout ‘bingo’

Keywords Exodus Menorah Dreidel Hanukkah Moses Shamash Maccabees Canaan Torah Abraham Pesach Mitzvot Synagogue Shabbat