December 2024
Sophie Geffros

When a child in our Hebrew School was given the task of decorating a construction paper dreidel – only, of course, after he proved he could recognize the sounds that each Hebrew letter made – his eyes lit up. 

“I can draw my family on there!” he shouted, grabbing a purple crayon. 
His family had travelled across the globe to end up in Hamilton, and the excitement he felt at being able to represent his family on the dreidel was palpable. He claimed not to have seen a dreidel before – though, when the student in question is five years old, you tend to take such reports with a grain of salt – and yet still, he felt instinctively that it was associated with family. 

Later in the lesson, as we explained what each letter on the dreidel stood for – nes gadol haya sham, a great miracle happened there – he once again looked at us with delight. 
“What miracle?” He asked. “And where is there?”
It was at that moment that we had to end class for the day, promising that we would answer that mystery next week. 

The day before, during a training session for teens helping with our upcoming preschool Shabbat program, one youth was struck with inspiration while watching the trainer lead a Hebrew Through Movement session on Purim.
“Could we do that too? Can we get little Torahs? Could we make cookies for Purim or donuts for Hanukkah?” 
I suggested that hot oil and preschoolers are rarely a positive mixture, but agreed their other ideas were brilliant.
When I was asked to write this column on behalf of Beth Jacob, these were the events that immediately sprang to mind.

It has been a dark, difficult year for many of us. We have been dealing with immense challenges, and sometimes cannot help but feel as though we are fumbling in the dark. 

A great miracle happened there, yes. But when I see a child without any prior exposure to Hanukkah traditions instinctively grasp that this is a time for family and togetherness, and when I see the eyes of a teenager light up as they rattle off ideas for how to effectively engage our youngest children, I cannot help but see that a great miracle has happened here, too, and that every generation will be part of our grand tradition of bringing light in the most unlikely places. Chag Chanukah Sameach.