Jewish Identity Art
Jewish Identity Parade
Explain to chanichim that throughout Jewish history it has been hard to keep
our Jewish identity at times. Ask them what they feel makes them Jewish.
Have them illustrate what makes them Jewish. They may want to draw a bowl of
chicken soup, an Israeli flag, Friday night candles. It doesn’t matter what they
choose to draw as long as they can explain why that makes them feel Jewish. Take all the drawings and hang them as a display.
Then have the group draw self-portraits. Using string or wool, connect the drawings of the people to the things that make them feel Jewish. There you have a Jewish Identity Parade…
MIRACLES AND SUPERSTITIONS
When we talk about the ‘miracle’ of Chanukah, it is sometimes hard for young people
to accept that it was really a miracle. Many people don’t believe that miracles
can happen today, or that they ever did. Looking at the idea of miracles, and their
religious validity creates a great discussion. There are some ‘modern day’ miracles
that we can look at and we can also look at superstitions, by asking young people if
they believe in any superstitions or if they would behave in a certain way, to ‘protect’
themselves from bad things happening to them.
Further links to discussion:
- Which superstitions do you believe in?
- Do miracles happen in real life?
- Is religion based on the idea of miracles?
- Do you wear a ‘good luck’ charm?
Miracle Art
Nes Katan (small miracle) Art
Using white wax crayons, draw a chanukah design onto white card. Have chanichim then swap pictures. The chanichim then need to paint over the card, using a water based paint. As if by some miracle – the chanukah design will come through the paint!
More Miracle Art
Have chanichim colour onto card with wax crayons, using a variety of colours. Then, using thick black wax crayons, they need to colour over all the card until all the multi-couloured crayon is covered. Then they need to draw a design through the black wax. A multi coloured design will show through. Another miracle! (To draw the design, use a pen which no longer works, this makes the drawing easy and doesn’t alter the colour of the wax crayon.) It’d be a real miracle if your organization doesn’t have at least 10 pens which no longer work! I have loads!
Miracle Drama
Ask the chanichim to think of something miraculous. They can think of something they would want to happen that doesn’t. They can be as imaginative as they choose. Based on their idea for a fabulous miracle, they need to work out a play or a short sketch. After you have watched each group perform, discuss with them why they chose that miracle and do they think it might one day come true. Remind them that years ago, the idea of flying in an airplane seemed miraculous…
(not Purim – just a cute drama logo)
ART IDEAS ART IDEAS ART IDEAS ART IDEAS ART IDEAS ART IDEAS ART IDEAS ARTIDEAS ART IDEAS
ART IDEAS
Using Chanukah artwork is a great way to brighten up a room (or even the whole building if you can). I have included some ideas here which can be adapted for different age/ability groups.
There are also some ‘copy and colour-in’ pages on the net which you can access. These can be used to make Chanukah greetings cards if they are photocopied onto card or they can be enlarged and made into poster size, and coloured with pens, crayons, paints or collage.
CHANUKIAH MAKING
It may seem a bit of an old chestnut, but making a chanukiah which is lit together during an informal activity or even taken home and lit is something that gives children a feeling of accomplishment and pride. Let your imagination run WILD (but make sure the candles/oil won’t burn the building down...)
CLAY – You can use air-dry clay (which hardens over night) and is a very non-messy type of clay to use. Shape it, make holes in it using a candle or a pen. You can paint it (acrylic paints work well on it) and varnish it for a nice shine. The same techniques work with wet clay, it’s just a messier version – just as much fun though!
FIMO clay – using FIMO clay gives you the possibility to make small scale models. Making a chanukiah in the shape of Noah’s ark, with each animal holding a candle, is one idea that works well with FIMO because it is as pliable as plasticine. Follow the instructions as to how long to bake the FIMO after modelling (usually 15 minutes). Then varnish. FIMO is great for over 8’s. Smaller people find it too fiddly.
PLASTER OF PARIS – use an oblong box, such as After Eight Mints. Eat all the choccies (such a hardship...) and then smear the inside of the box with vaseline. Make up the plaster of paris mixture (available from chemists or some art shops). Fill the box with the wet plaster of paris mixture. Before the plaster is fully set, push 9 candles in. Leave them in for a few minutes, then when you remove the candles the holes should remain. When it is completely dry, peel away the box and decorate.
PARSNIP – ICut the veggie in half (lengthways) and scoop out nine holes along one of the flat surfaces. Line each hole with silver foil and put the candles in place. The downside is that after it’s been a chanukiah, the parsnip can’t be eaten… You could also try the vegetable art using pumpkins, squash or carrots.
ANY OLD BOX AND 9 COINS – take any old box (a cereal box, tissue box etc) and decorate it in paper. Take your 9 coins and glue them onto the decorated box. The coins are your candles ‘holders’. Simply heat the bottom of each candle and the heated wax will hold the candle in place on the coin.
GLASS JARS – you can either buy small glass jars, or ideally use recycled jars with the labels removed. Decorate your jars using specialist glass paints (available from art shops). Then you can choose to either place the jars next to each other, or glue them onto a wooden plinth, or set them into clay, for a stunning chanukiah where the light shines through the paint. The additional beauty is that the glass can be filled with oil and wicks or candles.
And apart from Chanukiah making you could do…
MASSIVE WALL CHANUKIAH - Draw a huge chanukiah and decorate it with foil, paints, crayons, wool, stickers… just about anything that’s hanging around. Attach it to a wall space in club. Make big flame shapes (tissue paper, crepe paper, foil) and stick another flame on each club night (if you are at club, it could be part of your Chanukah lighting ceremony). Alternatively, stick all the flames on the chanukiah as you attach it to the wall. (This works well as a group activity since everyone can have their own section of the chanukiah to decorate.)
MACCABEAN SHIELDS – use card to cut out a shield shape. Think through with the chanichim which Jewish symbol they would choose to put on their shield. This could be run as an activity after telling the Chanukah story, ask them to focus of one particular incident in the story and think of an item they could draw onto a shield. Or you could use a symbol from club (maybe you have a logo, or your club name in a design). Once the designs have been completed and coloured (paints, crayons, felts) they can be hung on walls as a decoration if you can make a strip of card to be stuck onto the back of the shield as a handle.
SPIN THAT SUCKER!
SEVIVON/DREIDEL MAKING
Cotton reel sevivon – cut out the four sevivon letters and stick them onto the cotton reel. Insert a sharp pencil through the hole of the cotton reel. Spin it!
Claydel – use some modelling clay, shape it around a pencil or stick into a sevivon shape. Mark the four letter onto each side of the sevivon and spin it!
Ping Pong Sevivon – make a small hole in a ping pong ball, using a small knife. Print the letter on the ball using a thick marker pen. Insert a piece of thin dowel so that it protrudes about 1 cm. You can also decorate the ball by dabbing glue and shaking glitter over it and spin it!
Paper sevivon – photocopy the template in this choveret onto card. Cut it out and decorate it – then spin it!
Cookery
As explained in this choveret, it is traditional on Chanukah to cook food in oil to remember the miracle in the Temple. There are two foods which are specifically cooked in this way and are eaten during Chanukah: sufganiyot (doughnuts) and levivot (latkes).
To make sufganiyot
Ingredients:
3 cups of self-raising flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
¾ cup of milk
30 grams dry yeast
a few grains of salt
tablespoon of lemon juice
Method:
Step one
Beat the eggs and sugar thoroughly for three minutes with an electric mixer. Add milk & mix well.
Step two
Combine the flour, yeast, salt and lemon juice. Add to the eggs. Stir with a soft spoon but don’t overmix. The dough should be smooth and soft.
Step three
Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface or flatten it with your hands to make it about half an inch thick.
Step four
Cut out the outer circle with a dough cutter or the rim on a glass/cup. Cut out the middle using a thimble. Dip all the cutters into flour before cutting.
Step five
Heat one and a half inches of oil in a big, heavy pan. Drop the sufganiyot in and fry till brown. Turn once. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with sugar.
Enjoy them!!
Chanukah Latkes (Levivot)
Ingredients
Potatoes
Onions
Eggs
Flour or matzo meal
Salt
Pepper
Oil for frying
Peel and grate onions and potatoes.
Add matza meal & enough eggs to hold it all together in a smooth paste (salt & pepper to taste)
Mix till smooth.
Fry in a pan of hot oil (enough oil to almost cover each latke)
Turn once so both sides are brown & delicious.
Eat!
YUM!
The Dreidel (Sevivon) Game
Usually you use candy or nuts to play this game. In case you don't have those items to play with, we've added points here for you to use.
N - Nes ... N or nun stands for nisht or nothing. If the dreidel lands onnun, you do nothing. No Points
G - Gadol ... G or gimel stands for ganz or all. Take everything in the middle. Give yourself 20 Points
H - Haya ... H or hay stands for halb or half. Take half of what is in the middle plus one if there is an odd number of objects.
Give yourself 5 Points
S - Sham ... S or shin stands for shtel or put in. Put two objects into the middle. Take away 2 Points
The four letters which appear on the four sides of a dreidel alude to the miracle of Chanukah.
They spell out: Nes (N-miracle), Gadol (G-great), Haya (H-happened) and Sham (S-there, meaning in Israel).
You may print out a copy of this page to use with your dreidel/sevivon that you make.
Make a Dreidel/Sevivon
Colour the pattern, then carefully cut the pattern out. (Younger chanichim may need help with this.) Use a paper punch to put round holes in the top and bottom area of the sevivon. Fold the flaps (this are the grey areas), then glue them to form a box shape. Allow the glue to dry. Once dried, place a (short) pencil through the round holes.