Table of Contents

Part I: Basics...... 3 The Hanukkah Story ...... 3 Three Core Concepts...... 6 Hanukkah Glossary...... 8 FAQs ...... 10 Part II: Traditional Hanukkah Foods ...... 12

Part III: Decorating For Hanukkah...... 16

Part IV: Hanukkah Blessings...... 19

Part V: Hanukkah Candle-Lighting Tips ...... 21

Part VI: Hanukkah Songs...... 22

Part VII: How to Play ...... 27

Part VIII: Hanukkah Checklist ...... 29

Conclusion ...... 30

More Fun Stuff from in a Box...... 33 Part I: Hanukkah Basics The Hanukkah Story

Hanukkah is a joyous eight-day festival commemorating the victory of the over enemies who wanted us to give up our religion.

Over 2,000 years ago, Greek kings – ruling from Damascus in Syria – were in charge of the land of Judea (the land of ancient ).

One Greco-Syrian king named Antiochus told the Jewish people who were living there that they could not pray to their God, that they could not celebrate Jewish holidays, and that they could not study Torah.

Citizens were forced to speak Greek and worship Greek gods.

But the did not accept this.

Mattathias, a Hasmonean, opposed what was going on. He and his five sons, led by Judah Maccabee, organized a group of resistance fighters called the Maccabees. Even though the group was small, and they were fighting a powerful enemy, the Maccabees finally succeeded – after three years – in pushing the Syrians out of Judea.

Once Jerusalem was liberated, the Jews entered the Holy Temple. When they did, they discovered that the temple was full of statues of Greek gods. So they started cleaning and polishing, taking out the Greek symbols and statues.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 3 But when Judah and his group finished cleaning the temple and wanted to rededicate it, they discovered that there was only one vat of pure oil to rekindle the ner tamid, the eternal flame that was supposed to burn day and night.

So on the 25th day of the month of Kislev, they took the one vat of purified oil that was left and lit the menorah. That amount of oil should only have lasted a single day. So they knew that they needed to begin immediately to purify more oil, because this process took a week.

But there was a miracle. That one vat of oil lasted not for one day, but for eight days. By that time, the new, purified oil was ready.

That’s why we celebrate Hanukkah for eight days.

Just a note about purifying oil: if you use a menorah with candles, or especially if you use an electric menorah, it's hard to make the connection between Hanukkah and oil. A book by Allison Ofanansky called Harvest of Light takes you through the steps of how an Israeli family harvests olives to be processed into oil – from gathering and sorting olives to pressing them and then, finally, using that special oil to light the menorah.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 4 This is also why the has eight candles, plus a place for the shamash or helper candle.

Because it was the oil that created the miracle, we eat (potato pancakes) or sufganiyot (doughnuts) fried in oil. And we celebrate by lighting a menorah (or chanukiah), singing special songs and blessings, and playing dreidel and other games.

Some people believe that the tradition began because Jewish villagers would quickly fry batches of them to feed the Maccabees when they came through town en route to fight the Syrians.

However, many prefer to emphasize that Hanukkah commemorates religious freedom, rather than the military victory, because Jews do not glorify war.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 5 Three Core Concepts

From this basic story come the three core concepts for Hanukkah that we suggest sharing with young children: light, miracle, and oil.

Here are some examples of how to bring each concept to life in your home:

#1 | Light

• Light Hanukkah candles during the eight nights of the holiday.

• Place the menorah in a window (facing the dark of the winter sky), showcasing the twinkling of the lit candles.

• Turn off the overhead lights in your room and just watch the flames dance.

#2 | Miracle

• Because we light one more candle each night of Hanukkah (i.e., one on the first night, two on the second night), we show how the miracle of the little vat of oil also gets greater every night.

• The letters on the dreidel stand for the phrase, “a great miracle happened there.”

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 6 #3 | Oil

• Fry latkes (potato pancakes) in oil. Your house will smell wonderful!

• Serve doughnuts (fried in oil), especially jelly doughnuts.

• Reinforce that the one jug of oil in the ner tamid in the Holy Temple lasted for eight days.

• If you happen to have an oil-burning menorah (rather than one that burns candles or is electric), the connection to the oil is even easier to explain.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 7 Hanukkah Glossary

Chanukah / Hanukkah [pronounced Chah-noo-kah] The eight-day holiday that begins on the 25th of the Hebrew month of Kislev, commemorating the miracle of the oil lasting eight days. The word itself means “dedication.” It usually begins in December, but can start as early as late November.

Chanukiah [pronounced Chah-noo-kee-yah] A special candleholder for Hanukkah with places for a total of nine candles: eight regular candles and one shamash (or helper) candle.

Dreidel [pronounced Dray-duhl] A top with four sides. On each side, there is a Hebrew letter – nun (standing for “nes” or miracle); gimel (standing for “gadol” or great); hey (standing for “haya” or happened); shin (standing for “sham” or there). The whole phrase is “A great miracle happened here.

Latke [pronounced Lot-kuh] A pancake fried in oil. The most common type is the potato latke, fried in oil to remind us of the Hanukkah miracle of the rededication of the Temple, when a tiny bit of oil lasted for eight days. There are also carrot, zucchini, and sweet potato latkes.

Gelt Money. Also refers to the foil-covered chocolate coins that are a traditional treat during Hanukkah.

Maccabee [pronounced Mah-kah-bee or Mack-a-bee] Hammer. The Maccabees were a Jewish national liberation movement that fought for and won independence from Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The Maccabees founded the Hasmonean royal dynasty and established Jewish independence in the land of Israel for about one hundred years, from 164 BCE to 63 BCE.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 8 [pronounced Matt-uh-thigh-us] A Jew from Modi’in who resisted when asked to reject Jewish practice. He became the leader of a rebel army with his five sons, including Judah Maccabee. His family became known as the Maccabees (from the Hebrew word for “hammer”), because it was said that they struck hammer blows against their enemies.

Menorah [pronounced Muh-no-ruh] A candelabrum with either seven or nine branches. The nine-branched version is used to celebrate Hanukkah. The seven- branched candelabrum was used in the Temple in the old city of Jerusalem and is the official emblem of the State of Israel. Most people, though, use the word menorah to refer to the Hanukkah candelabrum.

Sufganiyot [pronounced Soof-gah-nee-yawt] Jelly doughnuts.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 9 F A Q s

Q. Is Hanukkah the Jewish Christmas? A. Even though Hanukkah often comes in December, and even though both holidays typically include gift-giving, Hanukkah and Christmas are two completely distinct holidays. Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Hanukkah acknowledges that a small army defeated a larger, Syrian army that tried to force Jews to abandon their religion. It celebrates the miracle of oil that should only have lasted one day, but lasted for eight days Hanukkah is about keeping alive.

Q. Is there such a thing as a ? A. No. Christmas trees are displays that celebrate Christmas. Jews celebrate Hanukkah by lighting candles, eating traditional foods like potato latkes and doughnuts, singing Hanukkah songs and playing dreidel. Some Jewish families also exchange presents.

Q. Is it OK for Jewish people to attend Christmas parties and sing Christmas carols? A. Many Jews are perfectly comfortable attending parties, as long as they don’t involve religious worship in which they are expected to participate. Families have to make their own decisions about singing Christmas carols.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 10 Q. Is Hanukkah a major Jewish holiday? A. No. It is a minor holiday. Our big holidays are Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year), Yom Kippur (our day of atonement), Passover, and Shabbat (the Sabbath). For the major, holy days, some Jews don’t go to work or school. But, since Hanukkah is a minor holiday, we go about our normal activities and gather in the evenings to light candles and say the blessings.

Q. What special foods do we eat on Hanukkah? A. We eat foods fried in oil (like potato pancakes and doughnuts) to remind us of the miracle of the oil. And we eat chocolate gelt.

Q. Do kids get Hanukkah presents? A. Yes, in the United States, lots of families give presents to their children. Traditionally, gift-giving was not part of Hanukkah, except for small amounts of “gelt” or money. However, over time, gift giving has become more common. Family traditions vary: some give one small present each night; some give one large present.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 11 Part II: Traditional Hanukkah Foods Traditional Hanukkah foods include:

✔ Foods fried in oil (e.g., potato latkes and jelly doughnuts)

✔ Jewish feast classics, like or roasted chicken and

✔ Chocolate gelt (round coins of chocolate wrapped in gold or silver foil)

✔ Hanukkah cookies

• You can make cookies from scratch or you can buy ready-to-bake cookie dough, using either Hanukkah cookie cutters or simply making round cookies.

• Decorate before baking by sprinkling with:

✔ Blue and silver sprinkles,

✔ and sugar mixture, or

✔ Colored sugar made by stirring white, granulated sugar with a few drops of food coloring until it’s a nice consistency.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 12 • Or you can make stained-glass cookies by painting them, before baking, by:

✔ Mixing egg yolk with a little water.

✔ Dividing the mixture into several small bowls and adding a few drops of blue or green or other color food coloring in each.

✔ Giving your children new (or food-only) inexpensive watercolor brushes, so that they can paint the cookies, before baking them.

• Another option is to frost already-baked cookies, then decorate with red hots for the “flame” of your candle cookies or such colorful and tasty add-ons as strips of licorice, currants, chocolate chips, or other small candies.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 13 Easy Latke Recipe

• 4 medium potatoes peeled • 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 small onion, grated • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

• 2 eggs • 1/2 cup oil for frying

• 2 tablespoons matzah meal or flour

Directions:

1. Grate potatoes. Or shred them if you prefer a coarser texture. Use a towel to absorb extra liquid.

2. Add onion, well-beaten eggs, matzah meal, salt, and pepper. (Adjust proportions to taste.)

3. Heat half the oil until hot. Drop large spoonfuls of potato mixture into frying pan, pressing each pancake flat with spatula. Brown on one side; turn over; brown the other side. Add oil as needed.

4. Drain latkes on paper towels.

5. Serve hot with applesauce or sour cream. Yum!

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 14 Fun Dreidel Cake You can easily make a dreidel-shaped cake from a 9” x 13” x 2” cake. You can even use a simple box mix.

Directions:

First, cut 2 triangles off the bottom (seen here in blue). Then place the triangles together at the top of the cake to create the handle of the dreidel.

Frost however you’d like. Then embellish with what’s most age appropriate for the little hands helping you. You can:

• Decorate with sprinkles, colored sugar, or chocolate chips.

• Outline the edges with M&Ms or jelly beans.

• Make a Gimel pattern in the middle of the cake with icing.

• Use licorice strips to draw a dreidel shape; pipe with frosting.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 15 Part III: Decorating For Hanukkah

Make Your Home Festive There are so many five-minute ways to add the Hanukkah spirit to your home.

• Use curling ribbons (especially in blue and silver) to:

✔ Wrap around door knobs.

✔ Weave around your kitchen chairs.

✔ Suspend in long streamers from doorways or chandeliers.

• If you find Hanukkah napkins at your grocery or drug store, you can use them to decorate your dinner table each night or place them under a centerpiece.

• Adorn your windows and walls with Hanukkah drawings from your children.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 16 • With construction paper:

✔ Make paper chains to hang in doorways.

✔ Cut out dreidel shapes and tape them to the windows or walls in your kitchen or dining room.

• Trace the dreidel pattern below onto another piece of paper. Cut out the pattern to use as a template. Then fold a piece of construction paper, tin foil, or wrapping paper in half the long way. Place the dreidel template on top, with the long edge aligned at the fold. Cut all sides of the dreidel, except the long edge. When you open it up, voilà – a dreidel! We use these as fun gifts cards, too.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 17 Create A Hanukkah Display Gather a variety of Hanukkah symbols and work with your child to create a display in a basket or on a large plate. Place it somewhere prominent, like on your dining room table.

Include any combination of:

✔ (various sizes, plastic, wooden, ceramic)

✔ in gold and silver foil

✔ Walnuts in their shells (if you use them when you play dreidel)

✔ Hanukkah cookie cutters

✔ Hanukkah candles

✔ Menorahs

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 18 Part IV: Hanukkah Blessings

How to set up the menorah and light the candles On the first night, place one candle at the far right of the menorah and one candle in the special (usually higher) position. This higher candle is called the shamash, or helper, candle.

Light the shamash first, because you use it to light the other candles.

On each of the next 7 nights, add one additional candle. Put the candles into the menorah from the right to the left (the way Hebrew is read), but light them from left to right. That way, you’re always lighting the “newest” candle first.

Sing or recite the following two blessings, then light the candles.

Blessing #1 Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha’olam Blessed are You, Adonai our God, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu l’hadlik ner Ruler of the Universe, shel Chanukah Who commands us to light the Hanukkah lights

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 19 Blessing #2

Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha’olam Blessed are you, Adonai our God, she’asah nisim la’avoteinu bayamim hahem bazman Ruler of the Universe, hazeh who performed miracles for our fathers long ago, in that season. On the first night only, add this blessing, called the She’hechayanu.

Blessing #3

Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha’olam Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, she’hechayanu v’kiy’manu v’higiyanu lazman hazeh. who has kept us in life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this season.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 20 Part V: Hanukkah Candle-Lighting Tips

Basics to Have on Hand A Hanukkah menorah will have a total of nine candleholders: one for each night, plus a separate one for the shamash (helper candle). So you will also need a box of 44 candles (which is the typical number in a box of Hanukkah candles) and matches or a stick lighter.

Where/When/How to Light If possible, light candles at nightfall. Line the area under the menorah with aluminum foil to catch wax drips.

The tradition is to show the miracle of Hanukkah to the world, so place the menorah in a window. Or, if that’s not safe, light the menorah on a table or counter, then open the curtains.

After you sing the blessings, you can play games, sing songs, and exchange presents while the candles are burning, typically about 30 minutes. Watch out for flying wrapping paper and lit candles!

On the eighth night, all nine candles (the eight Hanukkah candles and the shamash) are lit – demonstrating the increasing miracle of the oil lasting for eight days.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 21 Part VI: Hanukkah Songs

After lighting the candles, it is traditional to sing Hanukkah songs. Our family sang Maoz Tsur and Mi Y’Malel every night after the candles were lit.

Maoz Tzur

Rock of Ages let our song, Praise thy saving power; Thou amidst the raging foes, Maoz tzur y'shuati l'cha naeh l'shabeach Wast our shelt'ring tower. Tikon beit t'filati v'sham todah n'zabeach. Furious they assailed us, L'eit tachin matbeach mitzar hamnabeach But Thine arm availed us, Az egmor b'shir mizmor chanukat hamizbeach. And Thy word broke their sword, Az egmor b'shir mizmor chanukat hamizbeach. When our own strength failed us. And Thy word broke their sword, When our own strength failed us.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 22 Mi Y’malel

Mi y’malel g’vurot yisrael Who will retell the things that befell us?

Otan mi yim-ne Who can count them?

Hein b’chol dor ya-kum ha-gi-bor go’el ha-am In ev’ry age a hero or sage arose to our aid.

Sh’ma ba-ya-mim ha-heim baz-man ha-ze Hark! In days of yore in Israel’s ancient land

Ma-ka-bi mo-shi-a u-fo-de Brave Maccabeus led the faithful band.

Uv’ya-meinu kol am yis-rael But now all Israel must as one arise

Yit-acheid ya-kum l’higa-el Redeem itself through deed and sacrifice.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 23 Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah

Oh Hanukkah oh Hanukkah And while we are playing

Come light the menorah The candles are burning low

Let’s have a party One for each night, they shed a sweet light

Let’s all dance the horah To remind us of days long ago.

Gather round the table One for each night, they shed a sweet light

We’ll bring you some treats To remind us of days long ago.

S’vivon to play with and latkes to eat

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 24

I have a little dreidel My dreidel's always playful I made it out of clay It loves to dance and spin And when it's dry and ready A happy game of dreidel Then dreidel I shall play! Come play now, let's begin!

(Chorus) Chorus:

It has a lovely body Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel With legs so short and thin I made it out of clay And when my dreidel's tired And when it's dry and ready It drops and then I win! Then dreidel I shall play!

(Chorus)

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 25 Resources I’m a big fan of playing holiday music in the background while you cook or clean or craft.

I found this CD – and just love it: Chanukah, A Singing Celebration with Cindy Paley – Cindy includes lovely-to-my-ear versions of the classics (e.g., Mi Y’malel, Maoz Tsur, and the blessings) – and lots more. It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for in mood and spirit. There are 16 tracks – even allowing you to buy the ones you prefer as MP3s.

For some different flavors, try Erran Baron Cohen Presents: Songs in The Key of Hanukkah. You can listen to MP3s of these tracks, as well. This version of “Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah” is a -inspired instrumental – very upbeat. And there's a nice rendition of the Ladino song “Ocho Kandelikas.”

Another wonderful compilation is called Celebrate Hanukkah with Debbie Friedman, Craig Taubman and Peter Yarrow. Peter's “” is a personal favorite. I'm also a fan of almost-anything Debbie, including “Not By Might – Not by Power.”

Two great CDs for groups of kids or in a family are Shira Kline’s CD, “ShirLaLa Chanukah! Sing and Dance” self-described as “outrageously hip Jewish kiddie rock” and Judy Caplan Ginsburgh's “Chanukah Favorites,” which includes lots of my faves, along with several delightful new-to-me tunes.

Note: Our goal is to provide tips and techniques to add traditions to your celebrations that you can customize to your family’s needs. The content contained in this guide is for informational purposes only. Links to third party sites represent ideas and resources that that I found helpful and do not constitute my guarantee of information, instruction, opinion, products, or services contained within these materials. Ellen Zimmerman, http://JewishHolidaysInABox.com. © 2013 Jewish Holidays in a Box, L.L.C. All Rights Reserved.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 26 Part VII: How to Play Dreidel The dreidel (pronounced DRAY-duhl) is a four-sided top marked with these four Hebrew letters:

Hey (stands for “haya” Shin (stands for “sham” Nun (stands for “nes” Gimel (stands for or happened) or there). or miracle). “gadol” or great). In Hebrew, this becomes “Nes gadol haya sham,” which translates to “A great miracle happened there.”

Remember that you read Hebrew from the right to the left, so the opposite of English.

In Israel, dreidels use a PEH, instead of a SHIN.Peh stands for “poh,” meaning “here.” So the sentence becomes “A great miracle happened here.”

There are plenty of variations in the way people play the game. Here’s one version:

To begin the game, everyone starts with a certain number of tokens (say 6 or 10). In our family, we

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 27 always used walnuts in their shells. Some families use M&Ms, chocolate gelt, Hershey’s kisses, or pennies.

Then everyone puts two tokens into the “pot” in the center of the table.

The first person spins. If the dreidel lands on:

• Nun. (Nothing.) The player takes nothing, puts nothing in.

• Gimel (All.) The player takes everything in the pot. After that, everyone puts back two tokens, to refill the pot.

• Hey. (Half.) The player takes half the pot.

• Shin. (Put in.) The player has to put one token into the pot.

Whoever has all the tokens is the winner.

Dreidel Fun Facts Why Hanukkah dreidels? One explanation: during the time of Antiochus, Jews were forbidden to study Torah. If an inspector came by, they hid their books, pretending to be playing gambling games with a top. Gambling was legal, so the inspector passed on – and the Torah study could continue. (Ironic, yes?)

The letters also stand for the words nit (nothing), gantz (all), halb (half), and shtell (put).

Dreidel-spinning tournaments are now held around the country!

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 28 Part VIII: Hanukkah Checklist

Here’s a list of Hanukkah supplies that will enhance your celebration:

✔ Menorah

✔ Box of 44 Hanukkah candles

✔ Dreidels

✔ Walnuts in their shells, individual candies, or pennies for the dreidel game

✔ Chocolate gelt

✔ Jelly doughnuts

✔ Hanukkah-designed wrapping paper or solid blue and silver papers

✔ Curling ribbons in blue and silver

✔ CD of Hanukkah songs

✔ Ingredients for latkes and dreidel cake

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 29 Conclusion Every family celebrates Hanukkah a little differently. My brother and I got (really) little presents all eight nights. For many years, we continued that tradition with our girls.

A funny memory is the Hanukkah evening when our “gift” to each other was to write a poem. Everyone had 15 minutes to compose something. Here's our 10-year-old's offering:

Sarah, Sarah loves the presents.

Mom, Mom loves the lights.

I, I love the latkes.

And Dad. Dad doesn't care.

Super honest. And it underscores the truth that in most families, one parent leads the holiday celebrations. If you are that parent in your family, I want to support you however I can.

Someone asked me recently how we could make Hanukkah bigger, grander – more like Christmas – since her family celebrates both. My answer was that we can’t. And that it’s OK not to try. Or be apologetic. We can make it joyous and fun and revel in it for what it is: a minor holiday where we get together for light and special treats and “prezzies” and family fun. Where we build beautiful memories made of laughter and latkes.

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 30 About Ellen Zimmerman Ever since our girls were little, I’ve enjoyed embellishing our Jewish holiday celebrations. With homemade decorations. A bit of poetry. A song I love.

Now, as a grandmother, I see our family expand to represent a huge diversity of backgrounds. So my focus on weaving together centuries-old traditions with modern ones has a new goal: to embrace everyone who enriches our home by sharing the holidays with us.

We want to share our discoveries with you, in hopes that they will bring more joy to your tables and your families, too.

The idea for Jewish Holidays In A Box goes back to one morning when our girls were 6 and 8, when I didn’t like the “usual” way of reading through a Passover Haggadah. So I began, that day, to experiment. In fact, I wrote my own Haggadah that year.

When I taught in Sunday school, I experimented, too. How could I bring more passion, more fun, more learning to these students? I brought the same approach to teaching English and French in college.

My business life – as president of a marketing/consulting firm – nurtured these creative juices. Because coming up with new ways to educate and to excite is at the very core of what I love to do.

In 2011, I started to bring to life the ideas that had been percolating. I discovered that Jewish Holidays in a Box connects my passions: learning, teaching, playing creatively, combining information in new ways, beautiful packaging, and photography. And sharing with you is the most delightful joy of all!

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 31 Thank You So Much! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this e-guide as much as I enjoyed putting it together. And I hope you’ve found several traditions that will be just right for your family.

I truly appreciate you for taking time out of your busy schedule to read this – and to imagine how these ideas might work for you.

And I am so thankful for the positive comments and encouragement to keep going. If you have an extra second, I’d love to hear what you think. Please shoot me an email or leave a comment on our website.

If you’re not already getting our free weekly blog posts chock full of celebration tips and recipes, simple how-tos, and discount codes, please sign up on our home page. Please keep in touch with us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Check out Jewish Holidays in a Box to see what else might be helpful to you.

Again, our sincere thanks for your interest.

Copyright (c) 2013 Jewish Holidays in a Box, LLC

Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 32 More Fun Stuff from Jewish Holidays in a Box Kits & Games

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Celebrate Hanukkah: How to Light Up Your Holiday | Ellen Zimmerman | www.JewishHolidaysInABox.com 34