Lighting the chanukkiyah is one of the major mitzvot of Chanukkah. Why do we do it? How do we do it? How can Sefaria help us to find information about the chanukkiyah?
In this lesson, you and a partner will prepare and record an interview with a chanukkiyah which can be shared with others.
1. One of you will be the interviewer and one of you will be the chanukkiyah.
2. You both will need to research the mitzvah of lighting a chanukkiyah on Chanukkah in order to ask and answer questions for your audience.
Tech tip: Work in split screen with this sheet on one half of the screen and the Sefaria library in the other or work in one screen with two tabs open, one open to this sheet and the other tab open to the Sefaria library. Try them both out to discover which you like better.
Finding texts
Where in the Jewish library do we learn about the chanukkiyah or Chanukkah Menorah?
A good place to find out is by doing a "Topic" search in Sefaria.
Although they all mention a lamp, which is the first text to be speaking about Chanukkah?
Why do you think that Chanukkah isn't mentioned in the other sources? (Think about when Chanukkah took place)
Talmud
Each book is structured differently. Click on "Table of Contents" in the resource panel to learn about the structure of the book that you are learning. How is a text referred to? Does it use chapter and verse? Page number?
Mishneh Torah
Before diving into a new book, it is helpful to learn about what it is. Who wrote it? When? Where? What was the purpose of the book?
On Sefaria, you can always learn about a book in the "About" section.
Jumping into the text
- Click on the back button to return to the the texts.
- Close all panels except for the Talmud and Mishneh Torah sources.
- It is now time to prepare for your interview. You will need to know the who, what, when, where, how, and why of Chanukkah candle lighting.
- Read through the Talmud and Mishneh Torah texts to find the answers to the questions.
- Take notes and then use them to write a 5 minute interview with a chanukkiyah.
A moment of reflection
Now that you have read some passages of the Talmud and the related sections of Mishneh Torah, you can make some generalizations about the nature of each.
Watch the video below to learn about the Talmud and Mishneh Torah. How many of the similarities and differences did you find?
Record your interview
You are now ready to record an informative and entertaining interview with a chanukkiyah.