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Hanukkah

Hanukkah

Date: Dec 16 2020

Themes: Holidays, Party

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Did you notice your heating bill to be surprisingly low this month, or that your got exceptionally good mileage? Perhaps you experienced a small recreation of the miracle of Hanukkah.

When the Jews reclaimed the Temple of Jerusalem from the Syrians in the second century, they had enough oil to light the menorah, which was supposed to burn all night, every night, to keep it lit for one day. Yet, somehow, it burned for eight nights, which was how long it took to get more oil. A miracle!

The Jews celebrate this miracle with an eight-day holiday every winter during which one candle is lit on a menorah for each day of the celebration. In the 20th Century, North American Jews started exchanging presents to make Hanukkah a Jewish alternative to the Christmas gift-giving. Listen to Mason tell Devan about his Hanukkah.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Devan

Devan

Mason

Mason

Devan:  So how was Hanukkah?

Mason:  It was pretty good! You know it came really early this year so uh…

Devan:  Is it different every year?

Mason:  Yeah, the Jewish calendar kind of shifts around so sometimes it starts like the 4th of December which I think is when it started this year, and sometimes it starts like on Christmas Day.

Devan:  Weird. I didn’t know that. So it’s eight days, right?

Mason:  Eight straight.

Devan:  I learned that from the Adam Sandler song.

Mason:  Most people did. There’s a love-hate relationship with that song for most of the Jews, I think, because it gave Hanukkah a pretty good public profile, put us out there.

Devan:  So what did you do? Did you spin a dreidel and light some candles?

Mason:  I did the menorah every night, that’s the candle holder, but I didn’t play any dreidel. It just totally snuck up on me. That’s kind of the problem with these roving holidays.

Devan:  And what do you do? Do you give presents like Christmas?

Mason:  I was actually talking with some friends about this. I was raised, my parents don’t get in a present frenzy. They got my sister and I presents but there was never a “I have to get everyone in the family presents.” The Christmastime shopping blitz that everyone goes on makes no sense to me.

Devan:  Oh, that’s interesting. Do you celebrate Christmas too or just Hanukkah?

Mason:  No. I hate those people who do both.

Devan:  Yeah.

Mason:  Pick one. Stand strong.

Devan:  But then you get double the celebration, double the fun.

Mason:  Eh.

 

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Discussion

Hanukkah was particularly early this year, so Mason didn’t have a lot of time to prepare. He didn’t play any dreidel, a game with a top that children play during Hanukkah, because he wasn’t very prepared for the holiday this year.

Mason’s immediate family exchanges gifts for Hanukkah, but he doesn’t exchange gifts with his extended family or his friends. The amount of Christmas shopping a lot of people do seems strange to him.

Most of what Devan knows about Hanukkah comes from a song by comedian Adam Sandler about the holiday. Mason says Jews tend to both like and dislike the song since it helped make Hanukkah more popular but also sort of makes fun of it.

Devan asks Mason if he celebrates Christmas also, and he says he thinks people ought to choose one holiday or the other.

Most cultures have a winter holiday. Did you celebrate a holiday this winter? Which do you think is better, a one-day, intense holiday like Christmas, or an eight-day, low-key holiday like Hanukkah?

 

Comments

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zezo kal

zezo kal

Saudi Arabia

ooh free nice ilike it

03:06 AM Feb 05 2009 |

Lacha92

Lacha92

Indonesia

i just know about this..enjoy it..

02:00 PM Jan 09 2009 |

myakushka

myakushka

Russian Federation

thnx! i liked it ;)

11:11 AM Dec 30 2008 |

fabs1

fabs1

United Kingdom

Channuka celebrates the rededication of the Temple after the military victory against the Assyrian-Greeks over 2 thousand years ago. As a tradition, the festival lasts 8 nights and each night an additional candle is lit on a menorah (a Jewish candle holder) The reason for that is that when the Temple was being rebuilt, some oil that was only supposed to burn for 1 day ended up burning for 8 days, just in time for new oil to be made. That's the miracle of Channukah, however its symbolic for the victory.

04:57 PM Dec 28 2008 |

Invincible

Egypt

pretty awesome

02:15 AM Dec 28 2008 |

laura:-)

laura:-)

Israel

is really very usefull

03:53 PM Dec 25 2008 |

laura:-)

laura:-)

Israel

hi to everyone  ..

have a happy Hannukah …

if u have a Q u can ask me

have a god day

03:51 PM Dec 25 2008 |

kanaka durga

India

hi how r u….....???

 

03:03 PM Jan 03 2008 |

prinsece

prinsece

China

nice. i like it !

06:17 AM Jan 03 2008 |

T.M. VIJAIMATHI

India

CoolI like this very much. thank you

 

07:57 AM Jan 02 2008 |

poseidom33

Brazil

GOOD

11:15 PM Jan 01 2008 |

mdyaymf

mdyaymf

China

I like to,my see that movie evryday.

09:22 PM Dec 31 2007 |

xuwuxin

xuwuxin

China

LaughingLet us try  our  best!

04:53 PM Dec 31 2007 |

illiassine

illiassine

Morocco

NICE.

 I LIKE IT

11:46 PM Dec 30 2007 |

jamal_301104

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Nice

07:27 PM Dec 30 2007 |

eJoshi

eJoshi

Nepal

Nice! Yes, I came to know some new things also. thanks.

02:35 PM Dec 30 2007 |

yougubaihebindia

China

o  I  feel  Embarassed

12:28 PM Dec 30 2007 |

hungcu

Viet Nam

hi 

12:07 PM Dec 30 2007 |

hungcu

Viet Nam

hi

12:01 PM Dec 30 2007 |

smiyia

smiyia

China

How nice!!
hehe, i am looking forward the spring festival, the china new year

10:40 AM Dec 30 2007 |

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