Light the chanukiah; read Sulwe and celebrate its message.
Children wonder and discover; you facilitate more than you lecture.
- How can we bring hope into hard moments?
- How can each of us bring our own gift into the world?
- Why is it important to remember that darkness, too, can be a blessing?
Hanukkah celebrates hope that lasts. We frame this unit around hope and each child’s inner gift rather than ‘light vs. dark’ imagery, which can unintentionally reinforce colorism. Sulwe beautifully affirms the beauty of darkness.
- Or — light / hope
- Chanukiah — Hanukkah menorah
- Nes — miracle
- “Is dark bad?”
- Not at all — night, rest, and the deep sky are beautiful. Sulwe shows us how lovely darkness is.
- Children connect Hanukkah to hope and to each person’s unique gift.
- Children affirm the beauty in all of who they are.
This unit is a school-wide model of asset-based language. Choose words of hope and possibility; affirm every child’s skin, name, and gifts as beautiful.
Folktale. The Cruse of Oil (Talmudic) — a little oil and a lot of hope light up eight nights.
Changemaker. The Baal Shem Tov — taught that every single person carries a spark of light that nobody else has, and that finding yours is the job.
What would you do to bring hope to someone having a hard day?
“We celebrated hope and each child’s unique gift, and read Sulwe. Try at home: tell your child one gift you see shining in them.”