Hanukkah packet

Hanukkah Text Study
The Mitzva of Lighting Hanukkah Lights
Hanukkah is one light per household. For those who want to beautify - one light for each person.
For those who want REALLY to beautify - The School of Shammai says: on the first day, light eight and from then on reduce. The School of Hillel says: on the first day, light one and fromthen on increase.
Ula said: There were two western Amora’im who argued about this subject, Rabbi Yosi bar Avinand Rabbi Yosi bar Zveida. One of them said: the following is the reason for the School of Shammai’s opinion: correspondence with the days to come; and the reason for the School of Hillel’s opinion: correspondence with the days that have passed. The other one said: the reason for the School of Shammai’s opinion: correspondence with the cattle sacrifices of the
Festival; and the reason for the School of Hillel’s opinion: one increases in holiness and does not Rabbah bar Bar Hana said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: There were once two elders in the town of Sidon. One followed the custom of the School of Shammai, while the other followed the custom of the School of Hillel. One gave the reason for his opinion - correspondence with the cattle sacrifices on the Festival and the other
gave the reason for his opinion - one increases Paragraph One: The Teachings of the Tanna’im 1) The Tanna’im provide 3 different systems for lighting Hanukkah lights in this paragraph. What are they (be careful because system 3 has two options? a. ______________________________________________________________________ b. ______________________________________________________________________ c. ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 2) If all you want to do is fulfill the commandment of lighting Hanukkah lights, what is the ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 3) What does the expression vumn rusv mean (you might need to do a little research to look it up)? Highlight the words in the Talmud text that are the source for this term.
________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 4) Why is vumn rusv important to Judaism? Can you think of other holiday rituals for which we ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 5) Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai do not provide any reasons for their systems of lighting Hanukkah lights. If you were a talmudic Rabbi, what reasons would you give for each of their systems? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Paragraph Two: The Teachings of Early Amora’im 1) What are “western Amora’im?” Think about world geography and what the differencebetween/where East and West might have been for the Rabbis of the Talmud.
________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 2) Why is Ulla’s story about the two Rabbis being told in this paragraph?________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 3) When the Rabbis say THE Festival, to what holiday do you think they are referring? There is a
connection between THE Festival and Hanukkah. What do you think the connection is?
________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 4) Which reasons for the opinons of Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai do you think is the best one, the reasons about the days or the one about sacrifices and holiness? Explain your answer.
________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 5) What does the term “one increases in holiness and does not reduce” mean to you? How do you think it might be applied in Jewish practices other than Hanukkah? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Paragraph Three: Later Amor’aim Wrap Up the Discussion 1) What do you think was the relationship between Rabbah bar Bar Hana and Rabbi Yohanan, and ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 2) Why is Rabbah bar Bar Hana’s story about the two elders from Sidon being taught here? What ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 3) Does the argument between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai actually get settled in this Talmud ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 4) Who won the argument in the end? How do you know?________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 5) Think about the second and third systems for lighting Hanukkah lights taught by the Amora’im in paragraph one. Can you think of a modern Hanukkah lighting system that many families nowpractice that is an adaptation of both of them? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 6) What have you learned about the origins of our Hanukkah lighting customs after studying this ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

Source: http://rabbibellasgrade611-12.wikispaces.com/file/view/Hanukkah+Packet.pdf