Hanukkah

Instead of doing the next unit in Weaver I decided to do Christmas around the world. The first place we visited was Israel. Which the vast majority of the Jewish culture celebrate Hanukkah. I read a story called "Grandma's Latkes" by Malka Drucker it captures the story of the Maccabees a family that stood up to Antiochus a cruel Syrian king, who ruled over the Israelite s and demanded that everyone pray to Greek gods. No other religion was allowed. The Maccabees won and returned to the Temple in Jerusalem when they got there it was filthy with blood,dirt,and ashes. All the books, and Torahs were gone. There was only a drop of oil that could last one day but God provided and it lasted 8 days. So the Jews celebrate Hanukkah year after year with a menorah with 8 candles, they light one for each night and they eat fried foods cooked in oil to symbolize the oil that God provided.