Week 8 - December 10, 2020

This week at Seekers we learned about Hanukkah, especially how this festival of light inspires us to bring light into the world.  In Te'enim with Rabbi Nadia, we learned about themes of overcoming obstacles and resilience in the story of Hanukkah. One Te'enim student said, "When they feel sad, they feel better when they FaceTime their friends." Another student wrote, "When they feel weak, their family makes them strong." In Tamarim with Batya, one student said, "I will bring more light into my home by being kind to my family and give them presents!" Another student said, "I will bring more light into the world by spending more quality time with my grandparents." In Anavim with Stephanie, we learned about the lesser known story of Hannukah: the Adam and Eve story origin of Winter Solstice celebrations. One student in Anavim said, "If the days were getting shorter and I thought the world was about to end I would pile things on top of each other so high that I could climb them to escape the earth." Another student wrote, "weren't they cold? did they even have houses? Was it just them and a tree?" In Rimonim with Leilah, we discussed the Hillel/Shamai debate of which way to light the candles (starting from 8 and lighting fewer each day or starting from one and increasing each day). The class was energized by this and students even came up with other ways of lighting the candles like having the candles start from the center and then gradually grow outwards, or having the number reflect the age of those in the room. We also discussed how the winter can bring on dark feelings like anxiety and loneliness. Students shared feeling stressed for their grandparents because in the winter people get sicker. Another student shared that being outside is going to be less appealing as it gets colder and colder. When asked how they could bring light to darkness, they said, "I talk to my friend and it makes me feel wonderful because we are very funny... or we both think we are funny" Other things that bring light included "jumping on my bed" as well as "doing headstands."