This collection features Chanukkah sheets created by Sefaria's Learning Team and learners like you! From the basics of how to light a menorah and what we celebrate on Chanukkah, to unsung heroes of the holiday and lesser known customs, the sheets in this collection should keep you busy learning for at least eight nights.
Light is a major theme of Chanukkah. In this scavenger hunt, you will travel through the Sefaria library in search of light. Where is it mentioned? In what context is it mentioned? How does it relate to Chanukkah?
Big Idea: Lighting the Chanukiya is one of the major mitzvot of Chanukah which is discussed in detail in the Talmud Shabbat and Mishneh Torah: Scroll of Esther and Chanukah. Studying these two texts teaches the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the mitzvah.
Learning objectives:
Students will be able to research the details of the mitzvah of lighting the Chanukiya on Chanukah.
Students will be able to teach others about the mitzvah of lighting the Chanukiya.
Students will be able to navigate Sefaria to find texts related to their subject.
This Chanukah lesson, intended for middle school students, can be adapted for a variety of ages and abilities. The lesson can also be used in the context of learning about מחלוקת לשם שמים - arguments for the sake of heaven.
Essential Questions:
- What lessons can we learn from the approaches of Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai?
- How does the Talmud handle disagreement between two major schools of thought?
Learning Outcomes:
-Learners will explain the approaches of Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai to lighting Chanukah lights.
- Learners will be able to point to features of a healthy disagreement in the Talmud text.
- Learners will teach others how to light Chanukah lights.
The source sheet presents 4 types of candles that are used in Jewish ceremonies; Shabbat, Havdalah, Yahrzeit, Chanuka. There are sources, pictures, videos, and guiding questions for each. The source sheet can be used in a variety of learning settings, including family education, Chanukah workshop, supplementary school or day school.
A sheet about the Chanukah prayer “Al Hanisim”, along with 5 explanations for why we celebrate for 8 days and light lights. Musical samples are included.
Why doesn't Chanukkah have a canonical text associated with it? Rav Tzadok Hakohen Rabinowitz answers the question and explores the unique quality of the miracle of Chanukkah and its ongoing reverberations throughout the generations of exile.
Kabbalistic and Chassidic writings identify Chanukkah as a time in which this Hidden Light takes center stage. We are given special access to the Hidden Light. Rav Tzvi Elimelech Spiro ("Bnei Yissaschar") makes the connection between the Hidden Light and the Chanukkah menorah.
In a fractured and polarized world, many of us find ourselves seeking hope and unity within the brokenness. The Zohar - the core medieval text in the mystical thought of Kabbalah - offers a meditation on the light of a candle as a vision of Divine unity.
Students read, in the original Hebrew or an English translation, an article from Ma’ariv concerning accommodations made for IDF soldiers during Chanukah. They then study foundational Jewish texts in order to discover the underlying principles.
Activity teaching the halachot surrounding the chanukya. Students look at various chanukiyot found in the National Library of Israel and study halachic texts pertaining to chanukiyot and see how the chanukiyot follow the halacha. Students create their own chanukiyot and upload the pictures to the sheet.
Pirsumei Nisa, publicizing the miracle, is the basis for Chanukiyot/Chanukah Menorahs being put in windows, front lawns and public spaces. But why is it important?