A group of eighth-grade girls stood in the back corner of the auditorium at the Westchester Fairfield Hebrew Academy and quietly sang to themselves, before breaking up with excited giggles.
It was just minutes before the start of the Greenwich school’s Hanukkah chagigah, and the students were taking final moments to practice a song they had written about Jewish history — which they had set to a popular tune from the teen movie sensation, High School Musical.
“It took three days to write,” said eighth-grader Melissa Magaliff. “It’s really hooked our spirits to the holiday.”
It was a whirlwind of a celebratory week for the school’s students, who spent it learning about Hanukkah’s history and traditions through games, art, dance, songs and plenty of imagination.
“It’s been so much fun,” said eighth-grader Almog Shakof about the activities she and her schoolmates had participated in throughout the week. “I’ve been learning through songs and games, not just through books.”
Whether it was a potato-peeling contest leading up to the kick-off latkes lunch or a school-wide scavenger hunt in search for ancient artifacts, the holiday provided an opportunity to teach in a way that left lasting impressions on the children, said Erica Sokoloff, the school’s Director of Jewish Life.
“The challenge is taking what is taught in the classroom and bringing it to life — something that is not only educational, but meaningful,” she said. “We take it out of the realm of traditional learning and make it fun.”
The hope is that children will bring their newfound knowledge home in order to make their own traditions, which they can carry with them throughout their lives, she said.
There were numerous activities each day. At recess and gym class, Coach Brian Rosa led Hanukkah-related activities, including running races to fill “jugs of oil” with lemon-flavored Kool-Aid or a ball game between the Maccabees and the Greeks.
“We put a twist on everything so it had a Hanukkah bent to it,” Sokoloff said. “You knew it was Hanukkah, it wasn’t plain old recess.”
Israeli musician Oneg Shemesh delighted the lower grades with a concert, and the upper grades danced along with Glenn Tamir’s Israeli band. And students participated in a concert of their own. On the last night of Hanukkah, the fourth- and fifth-grade choir traveled to the Bronx where they performed at the annual Dreidel Ball for seniors at the Beth Abraham Nursing Home.
The students sang many songs in Hebrew, and the audience sang and clapped along during the choir’s rendition of “Light One Candle.”
Another highlight was a school-wide pajama day on December 10. That day — Rosh Chodesh Tevet — was one of the darkest days of the year because there was no moon that night, Sokoloff said. To commemorate the unique day, the Student Government decided that everyone should wear their PJ’s to school.
That morning, pajama-clad kindergartners through third graders gathered for a group story time where Sokoloff read “Hanukkah Moon,” a children’s book written by Deborah Da Costa about the traditions that take place in Mexico on Rosh Chodesh Tevet.
Throughout the week, on display throughout the school were the creative Hanukiyas handcrafted by students who participated in the first annual school-wide contest. Students were challenged to make their own version of a Hanukiya, or Hanukkah menorah, that was required to have eight same-height candleholders and a taller holder for the Shamash.
“The creativity and imagination of the students was absolutely amazing,” Sokoloff said of the 50 Hanukiyas that were submitted. “We encouraged students to do this with an Israeli theme because we are getting ready to celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary.”
The first place winners were the fourth-grade team of Mattie Cohen and Darcy Stack, whose Hanukiya resembled Mount Hermon in Northern Israel. The two girls learned about the mountain, one of the few places in the country to ski, from the Israeli emissaries visiting the school this year.
Eighth-grader Hannah Brody said one of her favorite activities was creating coins in art class that resembled those used during the ancient Hasmonean times.
Hasmonean coins, or coins the Maccabees minted, are something the older students are learning about in their Judaic studies class, said Middle School Judaics Teacher Irit Kornblit.
“One of the things the Maccabees did after reclaiming and rededicating the temple was to mint coins. The students learned why it was so important for a small band of Jewish rebels to mint coins in order to show their power,” she said.
“With each grade I did a project that combined art and history,” Kornblit said. “We spoke about themes, culture and the conflict between Hellenism and Judaism, and we spoke about assimilation — big themes that are taking place during the Hanukkah holiday. “
Guest speaker Marc Suvall, an avid coin collector, came to the school with his Hasmonean coins and other artifacts from that time period.
The coin replicas the eighth graders made were used on shields they crafted for the seventh day of Hanukkah, when the entire school gathered for a festive celebration. All the grades marched into the darkened auditorium with glow rings as they sang Banu Choshek, which means banish the darkness. Then, the lights slowly went on. Earlier in the day, each class participated in a scavenger hunt which eventually led them each to an “ancient” artifact — Styrofoam pieces that when put together resembled a large jug of oil.
Prior to lighting the Hanukkah candles, the eighth graders marched to the front of the room and each read a short essay based on the Hebrew quotes that adorned their shields.
“Miracles happen everyday, and as Jews we know miracles happen,” said eighth-grader Naomi Hurvitz. “Hanukkah is just one example of a miracle,” she said. “Miracles are everywhere, you just have to look.”