Each Jewish holiday has a different focus and atmosphere. Some are somber and introspective. Others are joyful and celebratory. Hanukkah is a little bit of both. Known as the Feast of Dedication, or Festival of Lights, Hanukkah is a memorial holiday on the Jewish calendar. We take this time to remember that the Holy of Holies was once desecrated and defiled while our people were subjected to occupation and prejudice. But then we remember that God poured our favor and strength on Judah Maccabee in order to reclaim the Temple! We also rejoice that God miraculously sustained the oil in the Temple menorah for eight days when there was only enough for one night! What a fun thing to celebrate even though it's not included in the list of Moedim (Appointed Feasts)!

As believers in Yeshua, we have another fun layer added to the mix. In John 10, we see that Yeshua Himself participated in the Feast of Dedication!

As a mom, it can sometimes be hard to navigate how to impress the importance of Hanukkah on my little one. It's not really appropriate to tell kids about the horrors that took place in the temple that led to the Maccabees waging war to reclaim it in the first place. Nor is it easy to explain the origins of "gelt" and why we give out chocolate coins. Most of the time, the kids just enjoy playing dreidel, eating candy, and lighting the Hanukkah menorah. My son is a big fan of anytime he's allowed to interact with fire, so eight days of it is a huge deal. By the eighth night, every one's menorah is a blazing sight. Which is why it's so appropriate to call it the Festival of Lights!

So, while the intricacies of this holiday might be a bit much for young kids, here are some tried and true ways to bring the Hanukkah festivities to life in your home!

1. Pick a different fried food to eat each night of Hanukkah, with the amount of fried food becoming a little less each night as the candles increase. The Greenberg Tribe usually kicks off Hanukkah with a big fried chicken dinner as we light our first candle. Then, as the week goes on, we shift from meals of fried food to a little side-dish or dessert option. By the end of Hanukkah, we enjoy mini-donuts to button up our holiday feasting. As the lights grow bigger, we take time to thank God for His provision and lessen our oil consumption.
   
   

2. Make a personalized oil of dedication for your family! If you take about a half a cup of olive or almond oil, add in some essential oils that your family enjoys, and put it into a small squeeze bottle, you can use it to re-dedicate your spaces to the Lord. My family loves the scents of orange and clove. Yours might like vanilla and lavender! Or maybe mint and lemon? It's up to you! Make it a family activity and once you're done picking out your scents, take a few minutes to pray over your home to re-dedicate it to the Lord. Then, pick a different room in your house for each night of Hanukkah to rededicate to the Lord using your family's personal anointing oil! Kids will delight in dabbing the oil on the doorposts, the car, your porch, or even your mailbox as you take time to commit your spaces to the Lord all over again. Remember, there's nothing special about the oil itself. It's the act of prayer and dedication that shows our children whom we serve. The oil is just there to be a physical reminder of our heart's purpose.

    

3. Make your dreidel games a little bit more high-stake! The whole reason why dreidel was made as a game was to act as a cover for studying the Torah during the Greek occupation. So, grab a selection of your kids' favorite books. Have one adult tell them that those books are now not allowed to be read in the house. Then have another adult show them how to read them while playing dreidel and hide them whenever the first adult walks into the room! If the first adult catches them reading instead of playing, then the book gets taken away for the rest of Hanukkah. The second adult can help the kids by being a lookout and assisting in hiding the books. (Obviously, this is a game, so play it loose! Kids love it when they think they've gotten away with something, so let them get away with reading as much as you can.) You'll find that your games of dreidel become less about who has the most candy or who's playing by the rules, and more about using the game as a collective cover-up tool for secret reading!

Making each holiday fun and exciting is how we teach our children to look forward to them when they come around the following year. So don't be afraid to be silly with this one. Hanukkah is an especially exuberant holiday, so lean into it!

This is the day that ADONAI has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
 - Psalm 118:24 TLV