BBYO Wishes You a Happy Hanukkah
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A BBYO BRANDED VERSION OF ALL OF THE BLESSINGS OVER THE HANUKKAH CANDLES.
Hanukkah with BBYO Teens
Dear BBYO Friends and Family,
On behalf of the BBYO community, we want to wish you and your family a Happy Hanukkah. During this Festival of Lights, tens of thousands of teens will celebrate Hanukkah at BBYO events across North America.
In small towns and big cities, teens will light candles, support their local communities through service, eat latkes and play dreidel games with Jewish teens they call their closest friends, their brothers and sisters.
The joy we feel during this holiday, and the connection to friends and the Jewish community, is felt again throughout the remainder of the year during local meetings, programs and weekend and overnight experiences that bring together teens from all over the world.
We hope that you’ll be joining us soon as a member of the Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA) and the B’nai B’rith Girls (BBG)!
We can’t wait to meet you and share the BBYO experience with you!
Please watch this video to meet some current and future Alephs and B’nai B’rith Girls and learn more about the BBYO experience!
Until then, Happy Hanukkah - Chag Urim Sameach,
Logan Miller and Sarah Minion
88th Grand Aleph Godol and 68th International N’siah
BBYO’s International Teen Presidents
P.S. Registration is now open and on January 1, 2013, eighth grade teens will be eligible to be a member of AZA and BBG and see for themselves why thousands of teens around the world call themselves proud Alephs and B’nai B’rith Girls.
The Macabean Revolt
A synopsis of the Hanukkah story
By Lesli Koppelman Ross (adapted from myjewishlearning.com)
In 168 BCE, the ruler of the Syrian kingdom, Antiochus Epiphanes IV, stepped up his campaign to quash Judaism, so that all subjects in his vast empire--which included the Land of Israel--would share the same culture and worship the same gods. He marched into Jerusalem, vandalized the Temple, erected an idol on the altar, and desecrated its holiness with the blood of swine. Decreeing that studying Torah, observing the Sabbath, and circumcising Jewish boys were punishable by death, he sent Syrian overseers and soldiers to villages throughout Judea to enforce the edicts and force Jews to engage in idol worship.
When the Syrian soldiers reached Modin (about 12 miles northwest of the capital), they demanded that the local leader, Mattathias the Kohein (a member of the priestly class), be an example to his people by sacrificing a pig on a portable pagan altar. The elder refused and killed not only the Jew who stepped forward to do the Syrian's bidding, but also the king's representative.
With the rallying cry "Whoever is for God, follow me!" Mattathias and his five sons (Jonathan, Simon, Judah, Eleazar, and Yohanan) fled to the hills and caves of the wooded Judean wilderness.
Joined by a ragtag army of others like them, simple farmers dedicated to the laws of Moses, armed only with spears, bows and arrows, and rocks from the terrain, the Maccabees, as Mattathias' sons, particularly Judah, came to be known, fought a guerilla war against the well-trained, well-equipped, seemingly endless forces of the mercenary Syrian army.
In three years, the Maccabees cleared the way back to the Temple mount, which they reclaimed. They cleaned the Temple and dismantled the defiled altar and constructed a new one in its place. Three years to the day after Antiochus' mad rampage (Kislev 25, 165 BCE), the Maccabees held a dedication (hanukkah) of the Temple with proper sacrifice, rekindling of the golden menorah, and eight days of celebration and praise to God. [Proper] Jewish worship had been reestablished.
Latke Recipe
Sweet Sweet Potato Latke (Pareve)
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Frying Time: About 10 minutes per batch
2 lbs. sweet potatoes or yams
2 Tbs. matzoh meal or flour
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking powder
1 - 2 tsp. cinnamon (to taste)
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. clovespeanut oil
Peel and grate sweet potatoes and remove any excess moisture (can put in dish towel or cheesecloth and squeeze out moisture). Beat eggs and add one at a time, mixing well. Add matzoh meal or flour and baking powder. Add spices and mix well. Heat oil until hot and put large spoonful for each pancake. Cook until brown and flip.
Makes about 18 - 20 pancakes.
Note: For fluffier pancakes, separate eggs. Separate and add yolks where "add eggs." Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold in egg whites after all other ingredients have been mixed in.
It's so much fun-akah to celebrate Hanukkah: an inter-chapter Hanukkah Party!
Featured Programs
Hear an educational story of Hanukkah leading into a fun, creative, cupcake filled program!
Hanukkah Cupcake Menorah
Come together for a fun Hanukkah program complete with a "synagogue" building contest and a gift exchange.
Hanukkah Fun
Eight Crazy Nights in One: A Hanukkah Celebration
To learn more about these great programs or to find other great Hanukkah programs visit BBYO's Program Bank.