Hanukkah

We had a small Hanukkah celebration with our Pilgrim Feast on Thanksgiving Eve.  We knew the first full day of Hanukkah wasn't until Thanksgiving day this year (a once in a lifetime event), but we decided Thursday would be kind of a crazy day and adding any more activities to the schedule would make the day even crazier.

So before our Pilgrim Feast, we lit the Menorah and reminded the kids that Jesus is the Light of the World.  A rousing driedel game was played.  Chocolate coins served as the loot.  The chocolate probably fueled the "rousing" aspect of the game.  Our friends provided a couple dozen of the best donuts in town, which we consumed after dinner.  Nothing like sugary yeasty fried bits of dough to remind one of the oil which did not run out on that first Hanukkah.  What a great tradition!

Related Resources:  Walk with Y'Shua Through the Jewish Year.  This book has been a staple in our home for many years.  I absolutely love how the Jewish feasts engage all five senses.  The sights, sounds, tastes, smells and tactile experiences of the feasts really drive the point home and help us to remember the reason behind the feasts.  God is so smart, that's all I have to say.

 “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’  then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes.  And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers.  And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day.  Deut. 6:20-24