Limud: Week Ten By Axelle LaBaw

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Barnard Fleming
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1 Limud: Week Ten By Axelle LaBaw The final Sunday of 2017 Limud came to a close this week, finishing off a wonderful year with a day of festivities. Hours away from the sixth night of Chanukah, the students spent their morning preparing for the holiday, from class activities to Hebrew with Movement. When I first walked in Morah Gail's class, my eyes laid upon a cluster of pre-k and kindergarteners gathered on the carpet. They were playing Maccabee tic- tac-toe, matching pictures of candles and dreidels in a row. "What if I told you," Morah Gail suddenly announced, grabbing her students' attention, "we could color with a candle?" The children gasped and flocked around the table, eager to take part in the craft. They picked up their candles and scribbled all over their dreidel drawings like Morah Gail had, surprised to not see any markings. Morah Gail then revealed the secret as she dipped her paintbrush in blue water, and, brushing over her candle drawing, the markings began to appear. The children excitedly painted their own papers, smiling at their creations and sharing with me what they'd received for Chanukah. But that wasn't their only craft of the morning- they later on used sparkly dreidel stickers and menorah cutouts to make their own Chanukah placemats. To finish off class time, Morah Gail provided the children with chocolates and lollipops to make their own scrumptious holiday goodie bags to take home. The first and second graders enjoyed the first part of their morning with Guy, starting off with a few rounds of musical chairs. I joined in as well, playing with the children as we danced round a row of chairs to Israeli Chanukah music. Afterwards, the students played a tricky game with Chanukah candles. The candles were tied on a string, which Guy wrapped around their waist, and the students were given the challenge of getting the candle in the hole of a ribbon role without using their hands. The students all rose to the challenge, giggling as they bent and twisted their bodies to win. "I said it was easy and then I changed my mind," Ben laughed after completing the game. "It was hard!" The third and fourth graders also spent time playing musical chairs with Guy before going downstairs for Hebrew with Movement with Dvora. Together, they learned the letters of the dreidel, and their meaning in English. "Now, can I tell you something interesting?" Dvora asked the children, sparking their interest as they spun their dreidels. "The dreidels in Israel don't have a shin. They have a pey," she said, holding up a card with the Hebrew letter printed on it. They had learned that the translation of the dreidel letters meant "A great miracle happened there", and, with this new information, understood why Israel's dreidels had a pey- it would mean "A great miracle happened here". "For the dreidel game, nun means nothing. But in real life, it means something," Dvora explained. "Nes means miracle." The fifth and sixth graders were also quite busy this morning, between preparing for their play and reviewing their vocabulary. This class, the students did something different, and each child had a turn to teach their peers a Hebrew word, such as gefen (vine). The students then worked on a craft project, taking tin foil, paint, popsicle sticks, and crepe paper to make Chanukah suncatchers, all while still creating their costumes for their very own holiday production. The atmosphere in Cantor Gustavo's seventh grade class was tense. Gold and silver gelt were on the line- the students and the Cantor were gambling for Chanukah sweets. The dreidel, after what seemed like ages of spinning, landed on gimmel, giving Jenny a victory over her classmates and teacher. She shared her triumph with the class, splitting her chocolate winnings with her friends in the spirit of Chanukah.

With a chorusing of songs, the menorah's candles were set alight, burning bright amidst the

2 After classes, the students, parents, and teachers of CTI gathered outside to light the tiki menorah. With a chorusing of songs, the menorah's candles were set alight, burning bright amidst the snow as the last Sunday of Limud 2017 concluded. After a winter break, CTI will resume on January 7th, 2018, welcoming back parents and students with open arms to begin the new year.

Hanukkah or Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights

Hanukkah Hanukkah or Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights Sometime in December The Jewish festival of Hanukkah, or Chanukah, is also called the Festival of Lights. It lasts for eight days and usually