Although we do not actively practice the Jewish faith, I grew up in a predominantly Jewish community, and attended my fair share of Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Passover dinners, and Hannukah celebrations. I even did some babysitting in a local temple's nurser on high holy days. So, the Jewish fait and its traditions have been a part of my life for a long time. Couple that with the fact that the baby man's godfather is Jewish, and you'll understand why I've decided to include some of these traditions and teachings in my own children's lives. It opens them up to other belief systems and teaches them a sense of understanding and openness to people of all beliefs and value systems.
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| Little man in front of our "menorah". |
I wanted to find a way to have my boys light the menorah without actually involving an actual flame. So, I came up with this alternative, kid-friendly menorah for the boys to "light".
I started by spray painting some clothespins "brown leather" (to go better with the dark wood in our dining room). I cut 3M picture hanging strips in half and placed them on the back (the picture hanging strips are adjustable once placed, so this way, I could make the row of "candles" even). I placed a piece of gelt in the top of each clothespin.
I used some yellow card stock and an orange marker to create 9 "flames", 1 flame larger than the others for the
shamash.
I then took a small gift bag and decorated it with a blue and white snowflake (Hannukah bags are hard to come by in the Denver suburbs, but I plan to look harder next year...or have my mom send me one from So. Florida). The gift bag moves down the clothespin line each day and is used to hold that day's little trinket/gift.
Since the mantle faces our dining room table, we would remove the gelt and the gift bag each night before dinner, say a prayer, and place the "flame" in that nights candle. Of course, we place a "flame" in the
shamash (the center candle used to light all of the other candles on the menorah) on night #1, before lighting candle #1. It is larger than the others and glows all week.
