CHARLIE: There are many miracles in Jewish history but ten-year-old Solly and his sisters Leora and Talia are about to celebrate one of the biggest as part of Chanukah the Jewish festival of lights.
SOLLY: I'm doing a picture of a Chanukiah.
CHARLIE: More than 2000 years ago a small group called the Maccabees fought to recapture the Holy Temple in Jerusalem from the Greeks and rededicate it to Judaism. To finish purifying the Temple Judah Maccabee wanted to light the ceremonial lamps. But there was only enough oil to last for one day. That's when somethingamazing happened.
SOLLY: Because the Greek Army had destroyed all the other jugs of oil and it was the only hidden oneleft…
LEORA: When the people who looked afterthe Holy Temple found a teeny bit of oil and God Hashem made it last eight days and nights.
CHARLIE: To celebratethe miracle of the oil Solly and his brother Rafi are helping to make latkas deep-fried potato pancakes.
RAFI: Are they ready?
MUM: Not yet. You can just wait for them to cool down first. Rafi…Rafi. Rafi!
CHARLIE: It's also traditional to play a game called Dreidal.
SOLLY: Playing the game of Dreidal always helps us rememberthe miracle of Chanukah.
CHARLIE: The Hebrew letters on the side stand for 'Nes Gadol Hayah Sham' which means 'The great miracle happened there.' You have to spin to win the sweets.
TRADITIONAL MUSIC PLAYS
Yay!
CHARLIE: But the most important part of Chanukah is lighting a special lamp or menorah called a Chanukkiah. It holds eight lights to represent the eight days the oil burned for at the Holy Temple.
SOLLY: The whole family has different Chanakkiahs and we all get to light one.
CHARLIE: A new candle will be lit every night during the eight-day festival until the Chanakkiah is glowing with light. And every evening once the candlesare lit the presents are opened.
RAFI: I got a remote control car.
RAFI: Happy Chanukah!
SOLLY: Happy Hanukkah!
Video summary
Find out about Chanukah through the eyes of 11 year old Solly.
Solly shows us how his family celebrates and gives us a short history of the origin of the tradition.
Hanukkah, also spelt Chanukah, means Festival of Lights.
It is an annual week-long celebration and one of the biggest festivals of the year for Jewish people.
The festival marks the date about two thousand two hundred years ago when the Maccabees recaptured the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and re-dedicated it to Jewish worship.
From BBC Series My Life, My Religion: Judaism.
Teacher Notes
My Life My Religion offers rich possibilities for pupils to learn from similarities and differences between religions.
Look at this clip alongside one from another festival (the series introduces Eid al Fitr in Islam, Easter in Christianity, Vaisakhi in Sikhism or Raksha Bandhan in Hindu tradition) then get pupils to list similarities and difference, then to explain them in detail, and using general words.
This topic is relevant to KS2 Religious Education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and Religious Studies in Scotland.
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