Holidays On The Way

The recent snowflakes are a reminder that the winter 2012 holiday season really is underway.  The Winter Solstice is on December 21, Christmas  just weeks away, and the first candle of Hanukkah will be lit on Saturday December 8th, after the Sabbath has ended.

Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, (also often spelled Chanukah) is observed for eight days, beginning on the eve of the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev.  It is a holiday of renewed dedication, hope, and spiritual light (as well as gift-giving and latke-frying).  Here are a few children's favorites that are guaranteed to enrich any Hanukkah celebration. In The Runaway Latkes  by Leslie Kimmelman, three potato latkes escape from the frying pan, causing the cantor, rabbi and mayor to go on the chase. 

Well- known author Patricia Polacco shares a childhood memory in The Trees Of The Dancing Goats when one winter in Michigan,  a Jewish family helps make Christmas special for their troubled neighbors, thus creating their own Hanukkah miracle.  In Eric Kimmel's entertaining Hershel And The Hanukkah Goblins, good triumphs over evil when clever Hershel outwits the goblins that are terrorizing the local synagogue, chasing them clear out of town.  To learn more about the holiday, go to this Hanukkah Facts Website or test your knowledge with a Jewish Trivia Quiz. Just for fun,  there are now 335 Cool Hanukkah Video Links  that the whole family can enjoy.

                 LET THE HOLIDAY SEASON BEGIN!!!