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Friday, December 19, 2003

Let's light the menorah
Amid Hanukkah's fun, Jews commemorate an epic struggle

By JOHN CHADWICK
STAFF WRITER

DON SMITH / THE RECORD [E.R.], left, and her classmates at Yeshiva of North Jersey getting the Hanukkah menorah ready. The students made their own candles.

[H.W.] spinning the dreidel, one of the most enduring symbols of Hanukkah, which begins today at sundown. [Click on pictures for larger size.]

The first-graders learned about the hardships of the ancient Israelites, and the joys of spinning a top called a dreidel. Hanukkah was in the air.

Sima Zupnik, a veteran teacher at the Yeshiva of North Jersey in River Edge, delighted her students this week by telling them all about the holiday staples - lighting the menorah, spinning the dreidel, and eating foods fried in oil.

The children, for their part, said they were already versed in those traditions.

"Eating doughnuts is my favorite part of Hanukkah,'' declared [E. R.], 7. "My mom is going to make doughnuts.''

But the class was more than just fun and games. Zupnik also told harrowing stories of the ancient Syrians who wanted to wipe out the practice of Judaism.

"The people were scared,'' Zupnik said. "They didn't know how they would fight against this army.'' But, she told the children, the Israelites prevailed.

Hanukkah, which begins today at sundown, commemorates the 167 B.C. victory of the Jewish freedom fighters, the Maccabees, against the Syrians in which they regained control of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Jews through the ages have celebrated the Hanukkah story as a narrative of human perseverance and religious freedom.

"We remember their bravery,'' Zupnik told the children. "They kept
their faith in [God], and He delivered them.''

Jews in North Jersey said this week that the story gives them hope at a time when they fear a resurgence of anti-Semitism around the world.

..... Hanukkah, which lasts eight days, is typically celebrated in the home, rather than the synagogue. Families exchange gifts, light the menorah, and spin the dreidel. The tradition of eating foods fried in oil commemorates a miracle: A small amount of oil found in the liberated Temple burned for eight days.

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E-mail: chadwick@northjersey.com