Incorporating quality videotapes into your family’s Chanukah celebration can help foster excitement and discussion about the meaning of the holiday. The programs listed below have been selected for both their entertainment value and educational content. They can be obtained at your local Jewish bookstore or video rental outlet, at Jewish libraries or by calling the distributors at the telephone number listed after each title.
The videos are listed in order of age level.
“Parpar Nechmad (Lovely Butterfly): Chanukah” (24 min., 1990, $16.95, Sisu/Kol-Ami, (800) 428-9920).
The Chanukah edition of this popular Israeli television program is geared toward pre-schoolers and kindergartners. It is available either in the original Hebrew or dubbed into English; the songs in both versions are sung in Hebrew.
“Stories from the Jewish Tradition” (31 min., 1993, $14.95, Weston Woods, (800) 243-5020).
The highlight of this collection is the video adaptation of Nina Jaffe’s book for children, “In the Month of Kislev,” a tale of a poor family, a stingy merchant and a wise rabbi.
The story offers an evocative portrayal of the simple joys of Chanukah in the shtetl and relates an important lesson about ethical behavior. The tape also includes a dramatization of “Zlateh the Goat,” Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Chanukah tale of a goat who saves a boy’s life during a blizzard.
“Chanukah at Grover’s Corner” (30 min., 1992, $49.95, PBS Video, (800) 344-3337).
Singer David Grover hosts a Chanukah party for his friends, including Theodore Bikel and Rabbi Alan Berg of Peninsula Temple Beth-El in San Mateo. Significantly, it is one of the few videos that shows Jewish children from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, reflecting the American Jewish community’s increasing diversity.
“A Chanukah Adventure” (30 min., 1994, $19.95, Tzivos Hashem, (800) 50-HACHAI).
In this spirited program, the wacky Professor Pellah challenges four teenagers to devise novel ways of promoting the Chanukah message.