Dear NATE members, teachers and parents,

The attached curriculum resource is meant to create a confluence of learning experiences. Included are resources for adding and educational and action component to the, "Sing Out for Justice," CD produced at the 1997 Biennial. A mitzvah, text learning and activities are included for each song that has learning resources (not all the songs have resource materials.) By combining dynamic music with traditional Jewish text resources, books, websites and activities to promote active doing we hope that schools, congregations, students and families will be inspired to action!

The activities are divided according to grade levels, with primary activities for pre-readers to third grade, intermediate activities for 4^th-8^th grade students and high school activities for 9^th-12^th grade students. Many of the family and congregational activities can also be done in the classroom.

In his address to the Biennial in Orlando, Jerome Somers said, "The responsibility "to do justly" enables us to live Torah, to engage in the values of our teachers and our texts. All of us know that it is the doing of  Torah that allows us to live full Jewish lives. Without the doing, we neglect our obligation as God's partner in the sacred task of helping to mend a fractured world." May we all be inspired to the doing!
 
 

Text sources

Y "Do not separate yourself from the community." Pirke Avot 2:4
 
Y When the community is in trouble do not say, "I will go homeand eat and drink and all will be well with me."…Rather, involve yourself in the community's distress as was demonstrated by Moses (Exodus 27:12) In this way Moses said, "Since Israel is in trouble, I will share their burden." Anyone who shares a community's distress will be rewarded and will witness the community's consolation. Ta'anit 11a

Y "All Israel is responsible one for the other." Babylonian Talmud , Shavuot 39a
 

Activities

Primary Grades

1. Have each child trace one of its hands. Have them write on their hand one thing that they can do to help Jews in need. Connect the hands and make a bulletin board.
2. Read and discuss the book, The Jews: One People , Barbara Bar-Nissim, United Synagogue of America.

Intermediate Grades

1. Look through Jewish magazines and make a collage of pictures of Jews from all over the world. What is similar about them? How are they different?
2. Contact the Jewish Family Services in your community and have them put you in touch with new resettled Russian families. Invite them to share a holiday celebration at school.
3. Take a field trip to a Sephardic synagogue in your community.

High School

1. Sponsor a cultural arts chug night, where students can choose art, cooking music or dance and explore Jewish ethnicities from around the world. A great resource is, The Israel Connection: One People Many Faces, JESNA.
2. Sponsor a panel learning session. Invite, orthodox, conservative, reconstructionist and rabbis to share some of their thoughts on Klal Yisrael.

Family at home

Research Jewish traditions from your family's country of origin.

Family at School

Sponsor a family potluck. Have each family share a recipe and special traditions from their family's country of origin.
 
 

Text sources

Y "You Shall not stand idly by the blood of you neighbor." Leviticus 19:6

Y "Kol Yisrael Arevim zeh ba zeh- All Israel is responsible one for the other." Babylonian Talmud , Shavuot 39a

Y "Ransoming prisoners is a great mitzvah." Baba Batra 8b

Y Death by the sword is a terrible death, hunger worse still, and captivity is worst of all. Baba Batra 8b
 

Activities

Intermediate Grades

1. Write an acrostic poem using the word FREEDOM.
2. Visit the Amnesty International website (http://www.amnesty-usa.org/) to see how individuals can make a difference in the lives of political prisoners.

High School

1. There is a wonderful lesson on Israeli MIA's on the Israel Pedagogic Center Web-site: http://www.jajz-ed.org.il/news/mias/.
2. Discuss the Geneva Convention on Prisoner's of War --- found on-line at http://www.tufts.edu/fletcher/multi/texts/BH240.txt. What Jewish values are mirrored in this text?

Family at home

1. Watch the news with your children. Point out stories about international conflicts, where your voices could make a difference. Write a letter to your congressional leaders together. You can contact your representatives at: http://www.house.gov:80/Welcome.html
2. Join the Religious Action Center Advocacy Network at: http://www.rj.org/rac/take/advform.html

Individual adult

Be aware of human rights issues by being a member of these organizations:

Y Human Rights Watch - contact http://www.hrw.org/

Y Amnesty International - contact: http://www.amnesty-usa.org/
 

Congregation
 

1. Promote the work of the Religious Action Center in your temple bulletin.
2. Form an Advocacy Sub-committee within your Social Action Committee.

Advocacy or action

Join the Religious Action Center Advocacy Network at: http://www.rj.org/rac/take/advform.html
 
 
 
 

Text sources

Y "You Shall not stand idly by the blood of you neighbor." Leviticus 19:6

Y "Kol Yisrael Arevim zeh ba zeh- All Israel is responsible one for the other." Shavuot 39a

Y "Ransoming prisoners is a great mitzvah." Baba Batra 8b

Y Death by the sword is a terrible death, hunger worse still, and captivity is worst of all." Baba Batra 8b
 

Activities

Primary Grades

Read and discuss the story, "My Name is Rachamim.," Rabbi Jonathan Kendall, UAHC Press .
 

Intermediate Grades

1. Learn about the rescue of Jews from Yemen - Operation Magic Carpet, from Ethiopia - Operation Moses and Operation Solomon, from the Soviet Union - Operation Exodus.
2. Have someone from your local Federation come to speak to you about the overseas initiative they help fund. Select a project to be your class tzedaka project for the year.
3. Find out through your local Federation if you have a sister city in the Former Soviet Union. Contact the community to see what needs you can help fill.

High School

Have someone from the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee come in and speak about his or her work.

Family at School

Invite families who are recent immigrants from the Former Soviet Union, Cuba, Iran, Syria or Ethiopia to tell their family story. Jewish Family Services will be able to put you in touch with recent émigrés.

Individual adult

Become a mentor for a new immigrant.
 

Congregation

Adopt a sister-city in the Former Soviet Union. Get details through your local Federation.
 

Advocacy or action

Write to the Secretary of State and urge that she do all that she can to see to the safe immigration of Jews wishing to leave the former Soviet Union and Iran.

SOURCE MATERIAL

The mitzvah in Debbie Friedman's song comes from Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5. This mitzvah arose from the question as to why God originally populated the world with only one person. It states: "that whoever destroys one life is considered by the Torah as if he destroyed an entire world, and whoever saves one life is considered by the Torah as if he saved an entire world." This obligation to save another person is called Pikuach Nefesh and provides the basis in Judaism for valuing life.

There are instances when a Jew is allowed to violate Jewish laws if a life is at stake. The rationale for this comes from Leviticus 18:5 which states: "You shall, therefore, keep My statutes and My ordinances, which if a man do he shall live by them." The rabbis understood this to mean "You shall live by them,' and not die by them" (Yoma 85b). From the Mishnah we learn that "Whenever a human life is endangered, the laws of the Sabbath are suspended." Therefore, if a sick person needs to be taken to the hospital on Shabbat, a Jew is allowed to drive that person.

Text sources

Y "One who causes the loss of even one life, it is as if that person caused the loss of an entire world, and one who saves one life, it is as if that person saved an entire world." Sanhedrin 37a

Y "Your life takes precedence over your friend's life. Baba Metzia 62a

Y "One does not take a life in order to save a life." Sanhedrin 72b

Y "Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor." Leviticus 19:16

Activities

Primary
 

1. Ask the students what it means to be created in God's image. Discuss how each person is special and unique and how we must respect and take care of each other. Refer to the Let's Discover God folders published by Behrman House. One of the folders is called In God's Image.
2. For 2^nd and 3^rd grade students, read the following books and discuss the courage of people who saved Jews during WWII:

• Passage to Freedom - The Sugihara Story, Ken Mochizuki, Lee and Low Books, Inc.
• In My Pocket, Dorrith M. Sim, Harcourt Brace & Company.

Intermediate

Read stories of the Righteous Gentiles and discuss how and why they made the decision to help save Jewish people from the Nazis. Two examples are:

• Anne L. Fox and Eve Abraham-Podietz, Ten Thousand Children, Behrman House. 
  Bea Stadtler, The Holocaust - A History of Courage and Resistance, Behrman House.

Explore the text from Leviticus 19:16: "Do not stand idly by the blood of your fellow." Give the students different scenarios to act out or discuss:

You are at school and you see another student being teased or bullied by others. What do you do?
You are riding in the car with your parents and you see someone lying on the ground who appears to be unconscious. What do you do?
 

High School

1. Within the larger context of a discussion on suicide, help students understand that they are obligated to tell an adult if a friend is suicidal. Discuss the Mitzvah of Pikuach Nefesh versus issues of confidentiality. Use the book: When Living Hurts, by Sol Gordon, UAHC.
2. Have students write about the mitzvah of Pikuach Nefesh as it relates to their own lives. How do they take care of themselves emotionally and physically during times of stress or difficulty? When is Pikuach Nefesh more important than fulfilling other responsibilities?
3. Set-up a debate over Baba Metzia 62a - You and another person are stranded in the desert. There is only enough water for one person to survive. What do you do? Rabbi Ben Petura said both people should share the water. Rabbi Akiva said you should save your own life first. The opinion of Rabbi Akiva is followed.

Family at home

Rent and watch the movie Raid on Entebbe. Discuss why Jews feel a responsibility to rescue other Jews whose lives are in danger.
 

Congregation

Sponsor an organ donor sign-up drive. info to be attached.
 

Advocacy or action

Be an organ donor yourself!
 
 
 

Text sources

Y "The more torah the more life. The more schooling the more wisdom. The more counsel the more understanding. The more tzedaka the more peace." Pirke Avot 2:7

Y "Will you sweep away the innocent along with the guilty?" (Genesis 18:23)

Y "I the Eternal, act with kindness, justice and equity in the world, for in these I delight -- declares the Eternal." (Jeremiah 9:23)

Y "Happy are the righteous who turn the attribute of judgement into the attribute of mercy." (Genesis Rabbah 73:3)
 

Activities

Primary Grades

1. Listen to the Hammer Song and use instruments to act it out. What would it sound like to "hammer out freedom.?"
2. Have students share a time when they were treated unfairly. What did it feel like? How could they make others who feel unfairly treated feel better?

Intermediate Grades

1. Role play situations about treating others equally. Possible situations include new student in school, sibling rivalry, being punished for something you didn't do, someone else being punished for something you did do.
2. Write an acrostic poem for the word JUSTICE.

High School

1. Stage a debate on Exodus21:22-25 where it says, "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise." What do they think the literal meaning of this is? (The Rabbis never meant for this statement to be understood literally. They argue that an eye for an means equal payment for crimes committed.)
2. Use the Torah Aura Instant Lesson, "Begging the Question."

Individual adult

Make sure you are registered to vote and you take every opportunity to do so.
 

Congregation

Host a congregational Mitzvah Day. Contact the Religious Action Center for information (202) 387-2800.
 

Advocacy or action

Do your civic duty. When called for jury duty serve.
 
 

Text sources

Y "The ultimate purpose of the laws of tzedaka is to nurture in people the quality of mercy and kindness and not just eliminate poverty. God could have accomplished that by providing for the needs of the poor without human intervention. (Sefer HaHinuch 66)

Y "Share your bread with the hungry and make the wretched poor into your home; when you see the naked clothe them." (Isaiah 58:7)

Y God says to Israel, "My children, whenever you give sustenance to the poor, I impute it to you as though you gave sustenance to me..." (Midrash Tannaim)

Y If…there is a needy person among you…do not harden your heart and shut your hand against your kin. Rather, you must open your hand and lend whatever is sufficient. (Deut.15:7-11)

Activities

Primary Grades

1. Use the Torah Aura Instant Lesson, "What Can $5.00 Do."
2. Make tzedaka boxes in class. You can use small cereal boxes covered with construction paper, film canisters decorated with stickers, tennis ball cans…
3. Collect tzedaka in class weekly and have the students select a place to donate it.

Intermediate Grades

1. Use the Torah Aura Instant Lesson, "Rambam's Rungs."
2. Have your students volunteer at your local Federation's Super Sunday.
3. Coordinate a food drive for a local food bank.

High School

1. Have someone from Federation come to explain the allocations process and lead an allocations simulation game.
2. Have your class take a field trip to serve a meal at a local soup kitchen.
3. Take a field trip to deliver meals to homebound elderly. Contact your local Jewish Vocational Services to see if they sponsor a Meals-on-Wheels program..

Family at home

1. Have your family serve a meal at a local soup kitchen.
2. Help your children to understand the importance of tzedaka collection by using a transparent box so that they can see the money accumulate, and also by having a say in where the money will go. When you receive a receipt or letter of thanks for your contribution share it with your children.
3. Have your child decorate a shoe box, or set aside a shelf on the pantry which will store food for the needy. Each time your children go shopping with you let them pick one item to add to the box.
4. Set aside a portion of your garden to donate to a local food bank, thus reinforcing the importance of good deeds, and fulfilling the mitzvot of pe'ah, leaving the corners of your field for the needy.

Congregation

1. Give every B'nai Mitzvah a tzedaka can as a gift from the temple board.
2. Host a congregational Mitzvah Day. Contact the Religious Action Center for information. (202) 387-2800

Text sources

Y "All people, in every generation, must regard themselves as having been personally freed from Egypt." (Haggadah)

Y "Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof." (Leviticus 25:10)

Y "And you shall explain to your son on that day, 'It is because of what the Eternal One did for me when I went free from Egypt." (Exodus13:8)
 

Activities

Primary Grades

1. Tell the story of the Exodus to your class. Make a mural as you do; stop at certain points in the story and have the students illustrate. Ask them to think about how they might have felt if they were living through the story.
2. Make matzah with your students.
3. Use the Torah Aura Instant Lesson, "Alef: Passover."

Intermediate Grades

1. Read and discuss the Exodus story from the Torah, Exodus 7:14-12:42. How are the details of the story like what we commemorate at our seder? How are they different.
2. Use the Torah Aura Instant Lesson, "15 Steps to Freedom."

High School

1. Discuss why does the Torah tell us to remember that we were slaves in the land of Egypt?
2. What freedoms do you enjoy that your ancestors did not have?
3. Have the students write an essay or a poem entitled, "What does freedom mean to me…"

Family at School

Have a family program studying the Exodus story. Have each family write a midrash as if they had gone forth from Egypt.
 

Family at home

Host a seder. We recommend the following haggadot, but all books stores are filled with them!

Y A Family Haggadah, Shoshana Silberman, Kar-Ben Copies, INC.

Y The Family Participation Haggaadah; A Different Night, Noam Zion and David Dishon, The Shalom Hartman Institute.

Y The Art of Jewish Living, The Passover Seder, Dr. Ron Wolfson, The Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs and the University of Judaism.
 
 
 

Text sources.

Y "Turn it [the Torah] over and over, for it contains everything. Keep your eyes riveted to it. Spend yourself in its study. Never budge from it, for there is no better way of life than that." (Pirke Avot 5:25)

Y "Study leads to action." (Talmud Kiddushin 40a)

Y "The world stands on three things: the Torah, worship and acts of loving kindness." (Pirke Avot 1:2)

Y "The more Torah, the more life; the more counsel, the more understanding, the more justice, the more peace." (Pirke Avot 2:8)

Y "Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. " (Deut. 6:6-7)
 

Activities

Primary Grades

1. Learn the v'ahavta in English and make shema pillowcases.
2. Learn "It's a Tree of Life" (Richard Silverman). Make a class tree using the Torah as the trunk, use the kids handprints with their Hebrew and English names on them as leaves. (Teaching Mitzvot, ARE Publishing)

Middle School Grades

1. Play Torah story charades.
2. Have a poster design contest for the best poster promoting the study of Torah.
3. Put on the play "The Magic Tanach" for the primary grades. (The Magic Tanach, by Gabrielle Suzanne Kaplan, ARE Publishing).

High School Grades

1. Debate study of Torah versus practice as greatest mitzvah.
2. Make Torah story audio or videotapes for primary grades.

Family at school

1. Stretch out the Torah over the laps of the families. Have the Rabbi talk about how a Torah is made, where different stories in the Torah are, etc.
2. Invite a sofer (scribe) in to talk about how a torah is made and demonstrate how sofer stam.

Family at home

1. Read weekly Torah portion as a bedtime story.
2. Subscribe to Shabbat Table Talk torah study over the internet at www.uahc.org.

Individual adult

1. Surf the web and join some on-line Torah study groups.
2. Make a donation to the Religious School or Continuing Education program at your congregation.

Congregation

1. Participate in a weekly Torah study group.
2. Start a "How to Chant Torah" class.

Advocacy/action

1. Volunteer for an adult literacy campaign.
2. Volunteer in the local library.
3. Join the adult education committee at your congregation.
4. Be aware of and promote literacy and school improvement campaigns in your community.

Text sources

Y "And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, You shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy. (Lev. 19:1-2)

Y Would you discover the mystery of God? Would you discover the limit of the Almighty? Higher than heaven -- what can you do? Deeper than Sheol -- what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea. (Job 11:7-9)

Y As no man knows the place of the soul, so no man knows the place of God. (Midrash Psalms 217a)

Y A person is obligated to bless God for the evil that befalls him just as he blesses Him for the good. (Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 9:5)

Y God is of no importance unless He is of supreme importance. Heschel, Man's Quest for God.

Y May your fear of God be as strong as your fear of men. R. Yochanan b. Zakkai's deathbed advice to his students; Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 28b

Activities

Primary Grades

1. Share stories from Hello, Hello Are you there God?, Molly Cone, UAHC Press; Teacher's Guide, Deborah Niederman, RJE, UAHC Press.
2. Use the, "Let's Discover God," magazine series from Berhman House.
3. Use the Torah Aura Instant Lesson, "Alef: God."

Intermediate Grades

1. Study the Shema and v'ahavta prayer. What does God ask of us? How can we live up to what God wants? What do we ask of God?
2. Invite the rabbi in to answer God questions.

High School

1. Use the Torah Aura Instant Lesson, "What Does God Do?"
2. Invite in a panel of interfaith clergy to discuss their differing theologies.

Family at School

Have the rabbi lead a discussion for parents on talking to your children about God.

Family at home

1. Read and discuss the book, "What is God?" by
2. Read together the book, "Teaching Your Children About God," by Rabbi David Wolpe.

Individual adult

1. Read the book, "Finding God," Soncino and Syme, UAHC Press.
2. Read, To Life, by Rabbi Harold Kushner.

Text sources

Y "Know therefore this day and keep in mind that the Lord alone is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other"" (Deuteronomy 4:39)

Y "The Lord will reign for ever and ever!" (Exodus 15:18)

Y "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth; in that day there shall be one Lord with one name." (Zechariah 14:9)

Activities

Primary Grades

1. Draw various "peace symbols" on a piece of posterboard and cut the poster board into puzzle pieces. Have students work the puzzle and then turn over the completed puzzle to reveal the symbols. Discuss how all the pieces need to fit to have peace in the world.
2. Ask students what happens when someone goes before a king or queen. Provide a crown and let children take turns being the ruler. Explain that we talk about God as being Ruler of the universe. (Teaching Tefillah, ARE)
3. Have students choose partners. Give each pair one crayon and one piece of paper. State that partners may not talk to each other or decide prior to the activity what picture they will draw as a team. Give the class a theme. Both partners should hold the crayon simultaneously and without talking draw a picture. Give them a specific time to complete the drawing. Have pairs share their work with the class and discuss: What did you draw? What does it represent? What was difficult? What was easy? Was it an equal effort? How did you feel when you realized your picture was going to be something? What did you learn about sharing and cooperation? What is the most effective way Jews can accomplish specific tasks? If possible, play the song "On that Day-Bayom Hahu" while the students are drawing (The Big Book of Great Teaching Ideas by Shirley Barish published by UAHC Press)

Middle School Grades

Have students act out the skit "Va'etchanan" from Sedra Scenes by Stan Beiner, published by ARE

High School Grades

1. Draw a cartoon strip illustrating what might happen if all peoples of the world lived in peace.
2. Have students create a basic moral code for all people to live by regardless of their religious beliefs.
3. Have students research organizations that work for world peace and report on their findings to the class.

Family at home

Search the internet for groups that work for world peace and to combat human rights violations. Write them letters to support their work.

Congregation

Arrange an exchange with another religious group. After getting to know each other engage in a joint social action project.

Advocacy/action

Volunteer for Amnesty International or another organization that works for human rights and world peace.
 
 
 

Text sources

Y "All Israel is responsible for one another." (Talmud)

Y "Do not stand idly by while your neighbor bleeds." (Lev. 19:16)

Y "Do not separate yourself from the community." (Pirke Avot 2:5)

Y "Whoever has the ability to prevent his household [from committing a sin] and does not is accountable for the sins of his household; if he could do so with his fellow citizens [and does not] he is accountable for his fellow citizens; if the whole world, he is accountable for the whole world." (Talmud, Shabbat 54b)

Y "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when? (Pirke Avot 1:14)
 

Activities

Primary Grades

1. Have a class discussion. "Have you ever gotten hurt? Who helped you? What did they do? What would you do if you saw someone get hurt?
2. Take a field trip to the grocery store and buy canned goods. Take the canned goods to a food bank.
3. Make shalach manot for elderly congregants and deliver them.

Intermediate Grades

1. Play "knots"- stand in a circle. Each person reaches in and grabs hands with two other people. Without letting go, try to untangle the knot. Discuss that in order to get the knot undone you must work together.
2. Invite a representative from Jewish Family Services to come and talk about how they assist new immigrants. Also invite a new immigrant to discuss how JFS assisted them with settling into a new country.
3. Put together "New Kids' Survival Kits"- here are some suggestions of what to include:

• a map of the school
• information about the school
• school telephone delivery
• a student handbook
• jokes and cartoons
• coupons for treats at local stores and businesses

High School

1. Invite a panel of representatives from different Jewish agencies in your community to discuss what they do to help people.
2. Read books onto tapes for the visually impaired.
3. Trust pass two lines of people facing each other. Have each person hold the hands of the person directly across from him or her. Have one student volunteer to be passed down the line. Discuss the trust and teamwork issues this exercise brings out.

Family at School

1. Do a program on Jews around the world.
2. Have a Mitzvah Mall by: Sharon Halper
3. 
   PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
   The Mitzvah Mall encourages shopping with a purpose by "selling" certificates for a particular service provided by a charitable organization. It is a community wide program of support for a variety of organizations.

Family at home

1. Deliver meals on wheels or volunteer at a soup kitchen.
2. Create fun packs for children who are in the hospital.
3. Put together "We're thinking of you kits" for families whose homes have been destroyed for the Red Cross to hand out. Some suggestions of what to include might be: pre-paid phone card, toiletries, stuffed animals, a thinking of you card, blanket, crayons, story book, individual packets of laundry detergent, etc.

Individual adult

1. Volunteer for a local social service agency
2. Write letters to your local government regarding current issues.

Congregation

1. Hold a blood drive where the young children can serve refreshments, the middle school age kids can handle registration, the high school kids can provide child care and make phone class to recruit donors, and the adults can donate blood and organize the drive through the Red Cross.
2. Host a Chanukah meal and program for senior citizens. Children can provide entertainment and decorations, older kids and adults can cook and pick up people who are unable to drive.

Advocacy or action

1. Form a team to walk in a walk-a-thon.
2. Form a letter writing campaign
3. Hold a congregation wide collection drive- toiletries, baby goods, clothes, old eyeglasses, mittens & hats, coats, pasta for Passover, school supplies, etc.

Text sources

1. "Remember the days of old." (Deteronomy 32:7)

2. "Forgetfulness leads to exil whiel rememberence is the secret of redemption." Nachman of Bratzlav

3. We believe that memory is the answer - perhaps the only answer." Elie Weisel

4. We Jews are a community by virtue of historic memory we have been held together and upheld by common remembering. Martin Buber
 

Activities

Primary Grades

1. Read the story, "Judah Who Always Said, 'No," by Harriet K. Feder, Kar-Ben Copies, INC.
2. Make a chanukiyah from construction paper. On each branch of the menorah have students write one thing that makes them proud to be Jewish.

Intermediate Grades

1. Study Chapter 12 in the Berhman House book, "Jewish Heroes, Jewish Values."
2. Learn the words to the song, "Light One Candle." What important lessons does it try to teach? Have students create another verse that shows their understanding of the importance of the Maccabees actions.

High School

1. Recall the story of the Maccabees learning that their name is actually an acronym for acrostic - Mi chamocha ba'aylim Adonai, Who is like you God? From the daily worship service. Why do you think the Maccabees took this name?
2. Use Chapter on Remembrance in, Exploring Jewish Ethics and Values, Rabbi Ronald Isaacs, KTAV Publishing House, INC.

Family at home

As you light your chanukiyah, think about and discuss the importance of standing up for what is right, fighting for religious freedom, remembering the brave actions of our ancestors.
 

Congregation

1. Create a family table discussion sheet to be sent home with questions for each night of Chanukah.
2. Sponsor a congregational menorah-making contest.