Lighting up Edmonton Talmud Torah with music, art and celebrations for Chanukah

By Natalie Soroka

(Edmonton) – As we prepare to welcome Chanukah, our halls are already buzzing with creativity, music, and meaningful learning.

Our Talmud Torah student choir has been practicing weekly in preparation for the community Menorah lighting at the Alberta Legislature on December 14th. Each year, TT students eagerly sign up to be part of this meaningful event, and they can’t wait to share their joy and talent with the wider community! Moreh Ben will lead the choir in a medley of classics.

On December 18, early learning and out of school care families will gather for a Hanukkah program to enjoy delicious food and warm conversation. There will be fun activity centers for the children, as well as delicious latkes, sufganyiot, and pizza to fill everyone’s bellies.  Ari the TT lion mascot will be in attendance to give high-fives and hugs. As part of their graduation year, Grade 6 students will be volunteering throughout the event. Be sure to pop by and enjoy a treat!

Led by our enthusiastic Grade 5 class, the TT community will also come together on December 19th for our very own Chanukah assembly, where Grade 1s will sing Bo’u Negaresh Et Ha’Choshech (Banish the Darkness), matching the tone of the Grade 4 song Bayamim HaHem BaZman Hazeh (In Our Time as in Days of Old. Grade 2 will follow with Yesh Po Am Maleh B’Or (A Nation of Light).

Grade 5 students will be rapping in Hebrew and English about the Chanukah story to the tune of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. The song will accompany an impressive hip hop routine choreographed by Ms. Kovacs. The Kindergarten and Grade 3 classes will be singing in Hebrew, and Grade 6 students will be using their new guitar skills (and instruments) to play Chanukah oh Chanukah.  Grade 5s will conclude the assembly with Hatikvah. Our Early Learning Center (ELC) students and educators are excited to join this event.

A peek into our Kindergarten classroom shows our little learners excitedly engaging in Hanukkah enrichment activities: connecting numbers on a dreidel worksheet, searching for holiday words, forming Hebrew letters with playdough, amongst other Chanukah-themed activities.

The Podersky Judaic Art Fund will be used for the very first time to support a special Grade 2 in-class field trip with ArtVentures! Students will dive into the world of block printmaking, creating their own Chanukah-themed prints. This hands-on experience beautifully blends artistic expression with Jewish cultural education.

Classrooms and hallways in both the ELC and K-6 are busy with creative and colourful Chanukah art, using water colour paints, oil and chalk pastels, and a variety of other mediums. Students have been exploring the story of Chanukah throughout the grades, learning how the Maccabee army fought against King Antiochus and the Greeks who attempted to destroy the Temple in Jerusalem and the Jewish people. We are reminded of those brave warriors every time we light our Hannukah candles and the parallels in today’s climate with the ongoing sacrifices of the Israeli Defense Forces in their active fight to keep the Jewish nation safe.

Wishing all our families a joyful and light-filled Chanukah!