FOR YOUNG JUDAEANS
CHANUKAR
THE Chanukah festival was awaited with feelings of joy by Jewish children in olden times. It meant, in the first place, vacation from Cheder, although it was only half vacation, as the children were expected to attend only a morning session. The afternoon and the evening were given to plays and games and general enjoyment. You enjoy a vacation even now, when your school hours are not half the hours that the child in olden times had to spend in the Cheder. How much more did the child of a generation ago enjoy his vacation of full eight days, when half a day could be devoted to play!
Weeks. before {he festival, the chief or- <upation .of the .boys. during their leisurı hours, and they ‚had very little leisure indeed, wasto prepare the Trendel. . They had to be the artists themselves, preparing the form, procuring. some, lead, usually an old spoon, melting it and pouring it into the form. until the Trendel came out perfect. Many fingers .received burns ana scars in the preparation, but such dangers did not frighten them. Many met with disappointment ‚when after all the trouble the Trendel did not come out right or the letters on it were not clear and distinct, due to: some “law in the’mechahtsm, bur even this did not prevent them from trying again and again, until the shining, leaden toy, with all its letters distinct, was ob- taned. _- en
The privilege of lighting one of the candles was not esteemed lightly by the young. Of course, this depended on the number of children in the household. Many a boy wished that he had been an only son, so that he might have the opportunity of lighting all the candles, after his father lit the first. Then came the distribution of "Chanukah-Gelt." Long forgotten aunts and uncles, cousins and other relatives were especially visited by
the young, and they were never permitted to leave without the usual gifts, even though it were only a few pennies. Every morning, in Cheder, boys would compare their treasures and calculate the collections still to be made or gifts still anticipated.
The Trendel was the most absorbing game, although it did not require much application. The game itself is rather simple. The toy has four sides, on each of which a Hebrew letter is inscribed. The four letters used are, Nun, Gimmel, He, and Shin. These letters were supposed to stand for the words "Nes, Gadol, Hayah, Sham" (A great miracle happened there). The practical use of these letters, however, was to indicate the gain or the loss of the player, for Gimmel meant "Ganz," when all the money went to the winner. He stood for "Halb," and the winner received only half the money. Nun meant "Nichts," nothing won. Shin meant "Stell," when the player had to add to the score. This was the only occasion when it was permitted to play games for money, and the Chanukah-Gelt accumulated was frequently lost in one evening. Since, however, the games were usually played by members of the same family, the money often returned to its original owner.
The Jewish child was made happy on Chanukah not only by receiving gifts, but also by giving them. It was customary for parents to send Chanukah gifts to the teachers of their children, and the pupil himself was frequently made the messerger. The joy of giving, not always free from the expectation of returns in the form of a more kindly attitude on the part of the teacher, was almost as great as the joy of receiving. The teacher himself was more favorably disposed during those days, and the rigor of the class room during the short school hours was considerably relaxed. The festival joy pervaded the home and the school, and Chanukah was indeed a happy time for the Jewish child.