Half of this week was spent immersed in the beauty and glory of the Beis Hamikdash! What life was like for the Jewish people before the Chanuka story began.
There was a mitzvah called "Bikurim," that the Jewish people observed. Where they separated the first fruits that grew in their homes, and would bring it as a gift for the Kohen.
The Kohanim (priests) wore a special uniform that included 12 precious stones. We made our own pretend "choshen Mishpat" costumes to invite the children to "experience" what the Beis Hamikdash was like.
We learned how olive oil was made, squeezing the first drop of oil out of the olive. Chana brought in some olive branches from her olive tree in her backyard so our friends could actually pick the olives off the branches. With the beautiful olive branches as inspiration, we made oil art, using droppers, and a mixture of oil and paint. It was interesting to see how the oil separated!
We used different types of blocks to build a Beis Hamikdash scene!
The Leviim had another special job in the Beis Hamikdash. They played instruments and sang beautiful songs! We enjoyed taking out instruments and pretending to be Leviim one day!
After delving into what life was like for the Jewish people with the Beis Hamikdash, the stage was set for the children to learn the miraculous Chanukah story.
A King Antiyochus puppet came to our class and announced some not kind rules towards the Jewish People. He said our Jewish friends cannot have Shabbos, or learn Torah or give a Bris to a new baby boy.
After King Antiyochus announced these new rules, it felt a little scary for some of our friends. We all went into a Cave, and learned about the way the Jewish children were able to keep learning Torah, light shabbos candles and do Mitzvos while King Antiyochus was the king.
Each child was given a Jewish object/Mitzvah to hold, as well as a dreidle. We practiced doing our Mitzvahs, and then when the King Antiyochus Puppet came the children took out their dreidles!
Brave- like a Maccabee
Hiding inside caves didn't feel good for some of the Jewish people. We introduced the children to a very brave man, whose name was Yehuda Maccabee. He said, "I am not afraid of the King Antiyochus! I have Hashem! I will always do what Hashem wants, no matter what!
He invited the other Jewish people to help him fight the King Antiyochus. They came out of the caves and were devastated to find out that the King made a big mess of the Beis Hamikdash.
The beautiful Menorah was tipped over, the Kiyor, Lechem haponim and Aron were tossed to the ground. They even broke the seals of all the jars of oil! Morah reminded all of our friends that they can also be brave and strong, and they don't need to be afraid!
Menachem acted like a real Maccabee the moment he saw the Menorah on the floor! He ran over and said "LETS FIX THIS!" and reminded all of our class what Yehuda Macabee did! They all worked together to clean up the Beis Hamikdash!
We all searched the Beis Hamikdash for oil, and discovered that there was only ONE bottle left that had the Kosher seal of the Kohen Gadol on it!
That bottle only had enough oil for ONE day, but it would take 8 days to make more!
The Maccabees were so excited to light the Menorah again, they went ahead and lit it. We used real oil in a glass cup, to see how the Menorah was actually lit.
The oil miraculously burned for 8 days and nights! We learned that is the reason why we light our Menorah's on Chanukah, for 8 nights. So we remember this amazing miracle.
Dreidle Letters/ Alef Beis
We focused on the 4 Hebrew letters found on the dreidel, Nun, Gimmel, Hey Shin. Using salt over the letters, the children were invited to trace the shape of the letter using their fingers.
Using popsicle sticks the children created different letter shapes
Thursday was a special day on the Chassidic Calendar. It was the wedding anniversary of the Rebbe and Rebbetzin! In honor of this day, we enjoyed a special wedding cake, baked by our friends in the Kindergarten class!
