Hanukkah is “an eight-day Jewish holiday celebrating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after it was reclaimed from the Seleucid Greeks in 167 BCE” (Harvard Pluralism Project). It celebrates the miracle of the oil that lasted for eight days, allowing for the rededication of the Temple. This year, Hanukkah began on December 7 and ended on the 15th. Tomorrow, Tuesday, December 19, FSA 7th grade students, families, and teachers are coming together to celebrate the end of the semester with a “potato latke party,” in recognition of Hanukkah! One of the organizers of this celebration is Alex Zinnes, teacher of 7th and 8th grade global citizenship. Last week, I sat down with Alex to talk about the upcoming party, how she personally celebrates Hanukkah, and why she finds it important to teach about religion in her global citizenship class.
“The kids are ecstatic,” said Alex. “They’re like, ‘fried potatoes? Are you kidding me? This is going to be amazing!’” While students are looking forward to delicious food, Alex is looking forward to using food to express her love and care for the FSA community. She said, “You want to express your love for people and make them feel loved, and this is a way to do it. And [it] acknowledges the lineage of demonstrating love and affection through delicious food, which I think is also a universal. Jews are not the only religion that does that, but certainly that’s definitely been a part of how I practice is connecting to the food lineage.”
While this is the first time Alex has made latkes for the school community, she makes them at home every Hanukkah. When describing her home celebrations, Alex said, “I will light the menorah and say the prayers and I will definitely make latkes… It’s neat because you connect back to your heritage and what your ancestors did, and that’s what I enjoy about it. That’s what’s special to me in really all my Jewish practices: feeling linked to people over time. That is very special.”
Alex elaborated on the symbolism of food during Hanukkah. She said, “Hanukkah commemorates the miracle of the oil lasting eight days after the desecration of the temple in battle, and that is linked to why it is traditional to eat foods cooked in oil, whether it’s sufganiyah, which is a donut and there are variations of that around the Jewish diaspora, or potato pancakes or latkes which were initially fried cheese before potatoes were in the Eastern hemisphere. The idea of celebrating the miracle of the oil lasting is really the main event.”
The miracle of the oil allowed for the relighting of the menorah, or oil lamp, in the Temple; the oil lamp was an everlasting light that was never supposed to go out (The Menorah: A Symbol of Light). Alex discussed the symbolism of light during Hanukkah. She said, “There is in every synagogue an eternal light that represents the light of God, the presence of God in this world. Just like the Light in Quakerism or any other religion, it’s the goodness, the divine on earth.” Alex finds significance in this celebration of light, especially in a time of darkness (both literally, as it is winter in the northern hemisphere, and spiritually, as many Jews grapple with heavy feelings amidst violence and rising antisemitism). She said, “Both holidays [Christmas and Hanukkah], and you could say with Kwanza too, evoke the light at the darkest time of the year. And that to me is even cooler because there’s something in us that’s longing for warmth and light this time of year. I like acknowledging that… You know, the redemptive thing is the light. That’s what you turn to is the presence of God; the presence of the divine isn’t extinguished even when [humans] totally make a mess of things with perpetuating violence and making mistakes.”
While Alex is looking forward to celebrating Hanukkah with FSA families, she believes that teaching religion is more than teaching about holidays. This year, she taught 7th and 8th grade students about Islam and Judaism, and they are now beginning their study of Christianity. Alex views teaching about religion in her global citizenship class as part of her efforts to “cultivate a humane citizenry.” She said, “I think it’s important to do direct instruction in a lot of religions. So much of human experience is understood and shaped by people’s understanding of their religious backgrounds…To be a thoughtful participant in humanity, it’s a good thing to know more about where other people are coming from and what might be informing their identity and what might be informing their worldview. Given that billions of people are adherents of these faith traditions it seems like a good idea [to learn about them], to promote both a sense of wonder about the diversity of expression and also a sense of the unity of humanity…It’s an interesting facet of human experience to want to understand a relationship to the intangibles, the invisibles, the idea that there might be something beyond our five senses that is at play. It seems to be a really large feature of human experience, so why not know about it? And world events also make it useful to know more about religious traditions so that we can have more meaningful discussions about current events…I think it’s also from a social justice perspective because of bigotry and misunderstanding of basically all those three religions [Islam, Judaism, Christianity]. You fear what you don’t understand. You might even be more disrespectful to things you don’t understand. So, it just seems like in terms of cultivating a kind of humane citizenry, that being educated about people’s different faith experiences…can enrich you and lead us to the kind of world we long for which honors all people”
If you are a parent/caregiver of a 7th grade student, please join us tomorrow for this “potato latke party”! We care for and value you and hope to show that through fried potatoes!
Written by Kristen Clayton, Director of DEI