Mr. Russell’s 3rd Class enjoyed Dreidel and Hanukkah as they took part in the Dreidelympics on December 1st, 2021!

The boys learned about the war between the Jews and the Syrians, and how oil that was only enough to last one day, lasted for eight whole days. They learned the Hebrew phrases, “Nes Gadol Hayah Sham” which means “a great miracle happened there”, and “Nes Gadol Hayah Po” which means “a great miracle happened here”, which is what is said when in Israel, as that is where the miracle happened. The class also learned about the menorah and how to play Dreidel, as well as the dreidel song!

After all that, the class joined Mr. Auslander’s class in Indiana USA, Steve Sherman and his daughter in South Africa, and Liat Eliasaf’s class in Israel – which was all the more impressive given that schools in Israel were closed for Hanukkah, but Liat had some of her students come to her house to take part in the Dreidelympics zoom call! As Hanukkah lasts for 8 days, each country had 8 spins of the Dreidel. It was all great fun and Team USA won for 2021. The most important part, of course, was not who won the game, because by sharing this special experience and some Jewish culture, everyone won. 

A huge word of thanks to Steve and Liat for welcoming Mr. Russell’s 3rd Class, and of course, to Mr. Auslander for arranging everything. Check out some photos below, used with permission, and with thanks to Steve Sherman who grabbed some screenshots during the game. Here’s to the 2022 Dreidelympics!