43
PAYING TRIBUTE
Photo
Akiva Academy sixth-grader Ben Shapiro, 12, right, suggests to Santa Claus, played by seventh-grader Eric Allen, 12, that he attend a Hanukkah program to learn about the meaning of the Jewish observance.
By LINDA M. LINONIS
youngstown
Toes will be tapping and hands clapping tonight to the rapping rhythm of “Candlelight” by The Maccabeats during a program of music and skits to mark the beginning of Hanukkah.
The Maccabeats, fourth- and fifth-graders of Akiva Academy, will be among students performing at a community menorah lighting program at 6:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center. The menorah will be displayed throughout the eight-day festival of lights.
“Candlelight” is a takeoff on “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz. The rap pays tribute to the miracle of the oil in the temple and how the Maccabees won religious freedom by defeating Assyrian Greeks.
Susan Schonberger, Judaic studies and financial coordinator at Akiva Academy, said this approach was taken “to do something that the kids can relate to.” “Sevivon,” a traditional song will be sung along with “Spin a Little Dreidel,” “Time for Hanukkah” and “Light One Candle.”
In one sketch, one girl shares how “the son of Elijah took me to the new Greek theater,” while another “wishes Judah Maccabee were my boyfriend.”
Ben Shapiro, 12, a sixth-grader who’s attended Akiva since kindergarten, said he appreciates participating in such programs because of the “feeling of being together.”
As for what the Maccabees accomplished, Ben said, “As a Jew, it gives me something to live up to. It was a great accomplishment, and I have religious freedom because of my ancestors.”
Thirteen-year-old Maddi Graham has attended Akiva since the third grade and now is in seventh. “Here you learn more than schoolwork ... you learn values like respect that are important,” she said.
Hanukkah celebrates religious freedom, a quality of life that all people of faith appreciate. It’s incorporated in academic and life lessons every school day at Akiva. The diverse student body of 78 from kindergarten to seventh grade is about 50 percent Jewish and 50 percent other faiths including Christian. Seventh grade was added this year and eighth, next school year.
Schonberger said the students learn Hebrew as one facet of study. They also share traditions practiced in their homes.
“Diversity is valued,” said principal Kathy Mioni. “The idea is to change a child’s life,” she said, adding that virtuous, peaceful living is encouraged.
Schonberger said Hanukkah can be traced to the time of Alexander the Great, who conquered Persia. At the time, Jerusalem was part of the empire.
Assyrian Greeks feared there was too much assimilation because of sports and music.
“Alexander, who believed in multiple gods, was open minded,” Schonberger said. “To him, the Jewish God was another god.”
The problem began in the small town of Modin, Israel, she said, when a Jewish priest refused to participate in a pagan sacrifice. The rebellion began, and the Hasmonean dynasty, nicknamed the Maccabees, led the revolution, Schonberger said.
The small group of freedom fighters, she said, defeated the larger and better-equipped Assyrian Greeks. When the Maccabees went to the temple, they found only a small amount of oil for the eternal light. They lit it but it took eight days to get more kosher oil, Schonberger said.
“But, miraculously, the oil burned all that time.”