Lesson video

Hello everybody.

My name's Miss Hughes.

What's your name? Today I'm in a very special building.

This is a synagogue and it's where Jewish people go to worship.

I've come here to learn about a special celebration in the Jewish calendar and that celebration is Hannukah.

Today we're going to understand why some people celebrate Hanukkah.

It's the first of three lessons.

The second is with Miss Sidenius, and the third is with Mrs. Garrard.

Give them away, they're excited to meet you.

In this lesson, we will learn about the religion Judaism.

We'll hear the story of Hanukkah, think of some ways that Hanukkah is celebrated, and then draw a story map to represent the story and remember it.

You're going to need your listening ears, a pencil, and some colours, and some paper split into six boxes.

Pause the video here, get what you need and restart when you're ready.

Now that you've got everything, we can begin.

Let's think about the religion of Judaism.

And remember, a religion is a set of beliefs about your superhuman power.

Some religions have one God, some religions have lots of Gods, and some religions believe in something else.

Here is a set of symbols of just some of the religions that people have.

Do you have a religion? Tell the screen what it's called if you do.

Wow! We're parts of lots of different religions and some of us don't have a religion at all.

Now the religion we're learning about today is called Judaism.

My turn: Judaism! Your turn.

And in Judaism, Jewish people worship one God.

They worship? One God.

Jewish people worship at a synagogue and they have a special scroll that they read from called the Torah.

This is the Torah here.

It looks quite different to another place where you might see writing like a book or a paper.

It's a big scroll and it is written in Hebrew.

Judaism originates, that means it was born, in Israel.

Here is a picture of Israel.

So, let's think a bit more about this synagogue where Jewish people go to worship.

Put your finger on the picture of the synagogue.

It's a beautiful building and every synagogue is different.

This looks like quite a big synagogue with very elaborate decorations; But some are much smaller; But all synagogues have some things.

All synagogues have an arch.

This is the arch here and inside the arch lives the Torah for that synagogue.

All synagogues have a Ner Tamid which is an eternal light that doesn't stop burning.

And all synagogues have a menorah which is a candle stick which has seven points or nine.

I wonder if you can find the menorahs in this picture.

Point to them now.

You might have found this menorah or you might've pointed to this menorah.

I can see this one has nine branches.

Maybe it's Hanukkah in this picture.

Now Jewish people read from a scroll called the Torah and the Torah is the religious manuscript for Jewish people.

It's written in a language called Hebrew.

You can see here that the symbols are very different to the alphabet that we use in English, which is what this lesson is written in.

Hebrew is read from right to left instead of left to right.

And Judaism was born in Israel.

Here is a picture of it today, but I can see it is old because the stone on the walls looks very old.

That was a lot of information about Judaism, so let's test what we've learned with a little quiz.

What is the Holy text for Judaism called? Is it the Torah or the Bible? Tell your screen.

Fantastic! The Jewish Holy text is called the Torah.

Where is the place of worship in Judaism? Is it synagogue or a mosque? Tell your screen.

Of course, it's a synagogue.

Well done, if you got that right.

Now we move on to learn the story of Hanukkah.

Hanukkah is the Jewish festival of lights.

It's the Jewish festival of? Lights.

You might be able to remember a different festival of lights from a different religion.

Tell the screen, if you do.

Some of you remember that Diwali is also known as the festival of lights, but that is a Hindu festival.

Hannukah is a Jewish festival.

Now the story of Hanukkah happened a very long time ago.

Over 2000 years ago.

That's a really long time before you were born.

So let's pretend we're travelling back in time.

I will tell the story of Hannukah.

Now a long time ago, over 2000 years ago, lived a King called King Antiochus.

His name was? King Antiochus.

And King Antiochus ruled the Jewish people.

King Antiochus was not nice to the Jewish people, and King Antiochus stopped the Jewish people from taking part in their religious celebrations and traditions.

King Antiochus destroyed the temple of the Jewish people.

He destroyed it - including the special lamp called the menorah that lived in the temple.

The Jewish people with very crossed and led by a man called Judah.

His name was? Judah.

A group of people called the Maccabees fought against King Antiochus.

Now even though there was a lot more people in King Antiochus's tribe, Judah and the Maccabees won.

As soon as they won they returned to that temple to restore it, making sure that they restored their special lamp called the menorah.

The menorah only had light that would last for one day, but a miracle happened and the menorah stayed alight for eight days; burning brighter than the Jewish people ever could have imagined.

Now people remember the time where Judah and the Maccabees defeated King Antiochus and it's known as the time of rededication where they got their religion back.

Now that was over 2000 years ago, but let's look at how Hanukkah is celebrated today.

Hanukkah remembers the time that the menorah lasted for eight days, even though there was only enough oil to last for one.

So now people light the menorah eight days in a row around the time of Hannukah.

On each night a new branch is lit and the candle in the middle, known as the shamash, is used to help light each branch.

So we know that lighting a menorah a is a way of celebrating Hannukah, but there are lots of ways that Jewish people celebrate Hannukah.

Can you name any by looking at the pictures? Shout them out to the screen.

Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah by sometimes giving people they love or care about gifts.

They play a special game with this which is called a dreidel, or they may have a special feast or supper.

Now we're going to think a bit more about how people celebrate Hanukkah in lesson two with Miss Sidenius, but now we're going to draw a story map to remember why people celebrate Hannukah and you're going to do that on the paper that you got earlier.

Number one, you're going to draw each part.

Number two, you're going to write a word to represent each part of the story in the box, if you can; and then number three, to help commit it to your memory, you're going to act out the story.

Lets have a go by retelling the story really quickly.

So stand up if you're not standing up already and take a big step into the first part of the story of Hanukkah.

Long, long ago, lived an enemy called Antiochus.

An enemy is somebody that was not kind to the Jewish people; they did not like him.

So I'm going to do a cross to show enemy.

You might think of a different action.

Ready? Enemy! Step into the next box.

King Antiochus destroyed the Jewish temple.

So here I'm going to pretend to destroy the Jewish temple.

Maybe you'll pretend to break it.

Think of your action to destroy it.

Step into the next box.

Judah and the Maccabees decided to fight King Antiochus.

So here I'm going to look really proud as if I'm showing you lots of coverage.

My face is stern.

Think of your action for Judah and the Maccabees.

Remember they were very brave.

Ready? Judah and the Maccabees! Stepping into box number four, Judah the Maccabees won the battle.

So here I'm going to look really happy as if I've had a victory.

I've claimed my religion back.

Put your action in your head.

Show me.

Won! Judah and the Maccabees restored the special lamp in the temple.

What can I do here? I want to show that the lamp is burning bright.

So I'm going to do this action.

You might show that it lasted for eight days.

Think of your action.

Lamp! And finally, number six: Now we celebrate Hanukkah, so I'm going to show that I'm celebrating.

Ready? Think of your action.

Now we celebrate Hanukkah.

Great work everybody.

If you'd like to, please ask your parents or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter tagging @OakNational and hashtag #LearnwithOak.

Now we've had a practise, it's your turn to draw your story map of the story of Hanukkah.

Maybe you'll join Miss Sidenius in lesson two to find out more about how Hannukah is celebrated, or if you don't, you could look it up online with your parents or carer present to help you.

Have a wonderful rest of the day.

I really enjoyed our time learning about Hannukah.

Bye!.