Hanukkah

This file is for Hanukkah and other Jewish holidays. It contains things I have collected or had sent to me. Since I am not Jewish I am not sure if everything will be in the correct place. If anyone has suggestions for additions or changes please let me know. Also see Religion and The Jewish Outreach Institute.

Hanukkah/Chanukah Page Toppers

Colorful candles burning bright, Each lit on eight very special nights.
Dreidle, Dreidle, I Made it out of Clay
Eight Nights of Light
Festival of Lights
Holy Lights
Latkes, Latkes, Good to Eat
Let It Glow, Let It Glow, Let It Glow
The Light Show
L'Shana Tova
Health and Happiness
May love and light fill your home and heart at Hanukkah...
May the Lights of Hanukkah usher in a better world for all of humankind...
One More Candle
One Candle More
Shalom
These Lights are Holy
The Torah is a tree of life to those who hold to it...
We shall light a candle of understanding in our hearts which shall not be put out.

Passover Page Toppers

Different from All Other Nights
A Different Night
Exodus
Feast of History
Let My People Go

Jewish Proverbs

(There are other Jewish Proverbs in various subject files.)

God is closest to those with broken hearts.
The hardest work of all is to do nothing.
I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders.
If God wants people to suffer, he sends them too much understanding. (Yiddish Proverb)
If God were living on earth, people would break His windows. (Yiddish Proverb)
A mother understands what a child does not say.
No one is as deaf as a man who will not listen.
Pray that you will never have to bear all that you are able to endure.
When you teach your son, you teach your son's son. (The Talmud)
Wisdom is more precious than pearls.

For Hanukkah

(H.N. Bialik)

Father lighted candles for me;
Like a torch the Shamash shone.
In whose honor, for whose glory?
For Hanukkah alone.

Teacher bought a big top for me,
Solid lead, the finest known.
In whose honor, for whose glory?
For Hanukkah alone.

Mother made a pancake for me,
Hot and sweet and sugar-strewn.
In whose honor, for whose glory?
For Hanukkah alone.

Uncle had a present for me,
An old penny for my own.
In whose honor, for whose glory?
For Hanukkah alone.

Hanukkah Time

Candles kindling,
Children singing.
Hanukkah is
Just beginning.

Dreidels spinning,
Apples simmering,
Latke sizzling,
Pennies shimmering.

Families gathering,
Voices ringing,
Hugging, kissing,
Children grinning.

Gift unwrapping,
Clapping this rhyme.
Hanukkah is
A miracle time!

At Hanukkah

(Vivian Gouled)

Lighting Hanukkah candles
and watching them burn and glow;
Listening to the story
of Hanukkah long ago;

Giving and getting presents
each day, and that means eight . . .
Hanukkah is a happy time,
fun to celebrate.

Dreidel Song

(Efraim Rosenzweig)

Twirl about, dance about,
Spin, spin, spin!
Turn, dreidel, turn--
Time to begin!

Soon it is Hanukkah--
Fast, dreidel, fast!
For you will lie still
When Hanukkah's past.

Family Hanukkah

(Eva Grant)

Mother's in the kitchen frying
Potato pancakes, crisp and light,
Father hides the children's presents
To be opened every night.

Amy shines the brass menorah
Till it glitters like the sun,
David counts the tiny candles,
He will light them one by one.

Grandma bustles round the household,
Then Grandpa joins the Hanukkah fun,
He tells the Maccabean story,
A family Hanukkah has begun!

Happy Hanukkah!

(Eva Grant)

Outside, snow is slowly, softly
Falling through the wintry night.
In the house, the brass menorah
Sparkles with the candlelight.

Children in a circle listen
To the wondrous stories told,
Of the daring Maccabeans
And the miracles of old.

In the kitchen, pancakes sizzle,
Turning brown, they'll soon be done.
Gifts are waiting to be opened,
Happy Hanukkah's begun.

Let's Light the Menorah

Let's light the menorah
For the Festival of Lights,
One candle every evening
For eight great, joyous nights.

Latkes, games, and sharing,
Happiness and cheer.
Let's light the menorah
For Hanukkah is here.

Hanukkah Candles

One and two, three and four
Shining, shining brightly.
Five and six, then two more,
Each one added nightly.
Eight at last, what a blaze!
Prettiest of sights,.
Best of all the holidays,
This Festival of Lights.

Hanukkah

My friends down the street
Are happy and gay!
Hanukkah is starting--
It's starting today!

The lovely menorah
Shining and bright,
Is waiting with candles
All ready to light.

Hanukkah, Hanukkah
How well you've begun
With gifts and with pancakes
For everyone!

Light one candle

(Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary)

Light one candle for the Maccabee children
Give thanks that their light didn't die
Light one candle for the pain they endured
When their right to exist was denied.
Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice
Justice and freedom demand.
Light one candle for the wisdom to know
When the peacemaker's time is at hand.

Chorus:
Don't let the light go out
It's lasted for so many years
Don't let the light go out
Let it shine through our love
and our tears.

Light one candle for the strength that we need
To never become our own foe
Light one candle for those who are suffering
The pain we learned so long ago.
Light one candle for all we believe in
Let anger not tear us apart
Light one candle to bind us together
With the peace as the song in our heart.
(repeat chorus)

What is the memory that's valued so highly
That we keep alive in that flame?
What's the commitment to those who have died
When we cry out, "They've not died in vain."
We have come this far always believing
That justice will somehow prevail
This is the burden and the promise
And this is why we will not fail.
(repeat chorus)