Hanukkah Lights
A Chabotville read-along picture book.
Chabotville, Episode one: Hanukkah Lights!
Good evening, friends!
Ooh! What's that? Blue and white bricks!
Tonight is Hanukkah. Let's build a menorah... brick by brick!
Hanukkah is the Jewish Festival of Lights. It lasts eight nights. Let's learn it together!
A Hanukkah menorah holds nine candles.
Nine? But Hanukkah has eight nights!
The ninth candle is the helper candle. It's called the shamash.
The shamash helps light all the other candles!
Long ago, the brave Maccabees got back the holy Temple in Jerusalem, and made it special again.
They found only one little jar of pure oil. Just enough for one day.
Just one day?
But a miracle happened! The light kept shining... for eight days!
That's why Hanukkah has eight nights of lights.
Remember: only grown-ups light real candles.
On the first night, the shamash lights one candle. Each night, we add one more!
Ooh, look how they glow!
We put the menorah in a window, so everyone outside can see the light, and the miracle!
Ooh! What's that? A spinning top?
That's a dreidel! Families play a spinning game with it at Hanukkah.
And there are yummy foods cooked in oil, like crispy potato latkes...
...and jelly doughnuts, called sufganiyot!
We eat foods cooked in oil to remember the miracle of the oil.
Thank you for learning with me, friends. Happy Hanukkah!
Can you remember?
How many nights does Hanukkah last?
What is the helper candle called?
Where do we put the menorah, so everyone outside can see the light?
You did it!
Eight nights, nine candles, and a helper called the shamash.
Next time you see a menorah, count the candles with a grown-up!
Download the PDF (4.1 MB) · Back to the video
Made with love by a Nana and her grandkids, with help from the bots of Botsville USA.
◀ Back to the video