And lo and behold, as more and more of my friends hear of my crazy Dayeinu Judaism holiday observances, I’ve found myself sharing recipes, projects and decorating ideas.
So — on the off chance that you too are swamped and want a few ideas (aka, shortcuts) — I thought I’d share a few.
Each of our holiday celebrations has five components: the story, decorations, tzedakah project, food and, of course, tefillah (prayers).
THE STORY:
No matter how many wonderful holiday books I’ve seen, nothing is as meaningful to my 6-year-old daughter, Roshann Pressman, as snuggling up together (or even driving in the car) and having me tell her a story. And if there’s any way I can work her into the story, we’ve got an instant hit.
A long, long time ago (167 B.C.E.), there lived a bad king named Antiochus Epiphanes. This bad king (who bore a striking resemblance to Jesse Helms) said that all people had to be the same and do the same things and that Jews couldn’t be Jewish anymore. We couldn’t light Shabbat candles, study Torah or celebrate our holidays.
A wonderful old man named Mattathias rebelled and gathered his sons and others to fight the armies of the bad king. They were called the Maccabees and they were the good guys — not because they loved to fight (like the Power Rangers), but because they believed that people are special because of who they are and that we need to protect and celebrate that specialness and not make everyone the same.
The hero was Judah the Maccabee, who led the struggle against the bad king and who won back the Temple in Jerusalem for the Jewish people.
When the Temple was ours again, Judah and our great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents found a small amount of oil. It was just enough to light up the Temple for one day. But a miracle happened. The oil lasted eight days! That’s the same amount of days as the holiday of Sukkot (celebrating the fall harvest and God’s bounty), which we hadn’t been able to celebrate under yucky King Antiochus Epiphanes.
We were filled with the joy of God’s miracle and with the joy of being able to celebrate our own Jewish holidays once again.
DECORATIONS:
Let your child’s imagination (and yours, too) go crazy.
Go to the fabric store and let your child pick out fabric to make a tablecloth ($6 to $12) or a table runner ($3 to $6).
Pick up one of those menorah window-sticker sets and let your son or daughter add a “candle” each night.
Draw pictures and hang them on the wall. Date them and save them so that each year you can use them again, showing your child’s developing art talent.
Get Jewish and/or Chanukah art stickers and decorate with them.
Get a large flat basket to use as a table centerpiece and have your child fill it with symbols of the holiday. Our basket is used throughout the year and changes with each passing holiday. Roshann calls the shots on this one, with suggestions from me — but she gets veto power.
Make a holiday banner by drawing, decorating and linking together dreidels made of construction paper. Use masking tape as it won’t remove the paint from your walls.
If you can, place a menorah in the window so that neighbors can enjoy the lights and follow the celebration with you.
TZEDAKAH PROJECTS:
A key part of our holiday celebrations is finding ways to do tzedakah. We have a tzedakah box that is shaped like a dinosaur, fondly known as Tzedakahsaurus. Roshann gets to decide where the funds in the tzedakah box go.
In addition we go through toys and clothes and decide which ones should be passed on to kids who don’t have as much as we do.
Other tzedakah ideas:
Collecting canned goods and donating them.
Volunteering at a shelter or for an AIDS project this time of year (especially on Christmas).
Making holiday cards for seniors who live at a nearby home for the aged.
Bringing magazines to hospitals and health clinics.
FOOD, FOOD, FOOD:
Just the thought of grating potatoes is enough to send most of my friends over the edge. Not to fret!