Vanilla @ The Plum Tree

Amy Has Curls!!

Recently we received hair curlers and decided to try them on Amy, because her hair is normally straight. Once she put on the curlers, she decided she was not going to let dad see her and said, “I’m going to hide under the blanket when dad comes home!” J  When dad came home, she tried to hide under the blanket, but dad pulled it off, and there she was-curlers and all. Dad took this picture. J Unfortunately, we forgot to take an after-picture so you could tell how they turned out, but she looked really nice. J

ALS

1-4-13

The Reason Why We Celebrate Hanukah

Today I want to talk about why we celebratre Hanuka. The first Hanuka occured about the 2^nd century BC. There was a king, Antocius II, who disliked the torah, another name for the Bible. He forbid the reading of torah and would comend anyone to death if they read it. God did not permit the Jews to sacrifice pigs, let alone on His altar. In the temple of God, Antocius II set up a idol of Zuez, burnt pigs on God’s altar, and poured pig’s blood over the torah scroles. Fortunantly, there was a priest who had a son Judah Maccabee. He and his brothers loved God with their whole heart, and they decided to get Jerusalem back and restore the temple. With only a few hundred people,the Maccabee’s made war against the greeks. Even though it seemed they shouldn’t have won the war, God helped them and they won! After they got he temple back, they had to light the lampstand that was in the holy place, but they had to use pure olive oil. The greeks had unpurified all the flasks of oil but one, which left only enough oil to last them one day; however, it lasted eight days. It took eight days to process new oil and purify it, which was used to keep the lampstand lighted as God had commanded them to do so. That is why we celebrate Hanukah for eight days, to comemorate the miracles God did for his people.

Happy Hanukah!! J

ALS

12-17-12

Happy Hanukah!!

This Saturday  was the biblical holiday of Hanukah. We made donuts and latkes for dinner. Afterword we looked for a Hanukah movie, but couldn’t find one. Before bed, we played a modified dreidel game called “Synagogue.” It has a timer, dreidels,  and a rolling deck. When it is played correctly it can be very fun. Another special event we engage in is to light the menorah each night for eight days! The first night we light two candles, the second night we light three candles and so forth. Hanukah is one of my favorite holidays.

ALS

12-12-12