PJ Library Grandparents: Celebrating Chanukah

Chanukah begins on Sunday, December 18th. For the following week, Jewish families around the world will gather to celebrate the Festival of Lights with latkes, dreidels, gifts, giving back and more.  You can join a community celebration or use our resources to create a celebration at home.  Chanukah ends at sundown on Monday, December 6th.

Grandparents make a huge difference in shaping the Jewish identity of successive generations, and we are so delighted that you enrolled your grandchild(ren) in PJ Library. We are creating resources and curated events that are great for building connections between grandparents and their grandchildren.

Chanukah comes at the darkest time of year—and so the illumination we add to the world each night by lighting the candles on the menorah is even more necessary. The light and warmth we emit can inspire others. There are so many ways to make Chanukah meaningful for your family and inspiring to the community.  Read on for tips to connect around the holiday and some suggested events for your family.

Jump to the section  you want:

• Tips for Connecting Around Chanukah
• Events to Celebrate Chanukah in the Community
• Chanukah Resources

Events to Celebrate Chanukah

Join us with your grandkids–even if you’re joining from separate states and screens!

Chanukah Grandfriend

Tuesday, December 13^th | 4:30 PM
$8/screen, which includes project materials mailed to you

Join us for a virtual, multi-generational event for PJ kids and their “grandfriends” to celebrate the Festival of Lights with stories, a de-light-ful craft project, and games. Register by December 7^th to receive the project materials in the mail.

This is a collaboration of PJ Library, Bender JCC, Edlavitch DCJCC, Pozez JCC’s Growing Jewish Families, HoneymoonIsrael, and The Jewish Federation of Great Washington.

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Tips for Connecting Around Chanukah

• Light the candles together at least one of the nights. If you can’t be there in person, light them via Skype, FaceTime or just the phone. Send a picture of your lit menorah to your grandchildren and ask their parents to send you one, too.
• Use the 8 Chanukah Values to inspire learning each night—there are things to learn, ask, read and do around eight different Jewish values connected to the holiday.
• Encourage a “Tzedakah Night” for one of the nights—instead of gifts, your grandchildren can pick a charity to support with the money that would have been spent on it. It can be an online donation or purchasing items (canned goods for a food bank or wool socks for those experiencing homelessness or blankets for an animal shelter) to donate.
• If your daughter or son-in-law comes from another faith tradition, we have ideas to make the holidays more inclusive and welcoming. Many of these are based on my personal experience growing up interfaith and raising children who are “mostly Jewish but a little bit not Jewish” (their words).
• Here’s a list of 8 Nights of Family Activities you could try.

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Chanukah Resources

• LEARN * ASK * DO * READ about Chanukah values as a family at jconnect.org/chanukahvalues!
• Download Federation’s Chanukah resource book, a collection of blessings, songs, recipes and more!
• Chanukah Ideas on Pinterest
• Chanukah Recipes from Federation’s Jewish Food Experience®
• Chanukah Basics from InterfaithFamily
• Chanukah Videos from Shalom Sesame
• Learn More About Chanukah from PJ Library
• Chanukah Books from PJ Library

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