Hanukkah Traditions From Across USY

Hi USY! The Religion/Education International General Board is REL/EDiculously excited to showcase more family traditions! For Hanukkah, USYers from across North America talked about their traditions! I hope you enjoy! 🙂
-Lily Selznick, Rel/Ed IGB 2019

METNY
Hi! My name is Seth Schlank. One tradition that is meaningful to my family is, for one of the eight nights, to give instead of getting gifts. We each choose an organization we value and pledge to donate to it. Then, we choose 2 or 3 as a family to donate to. Some of these organizations include FIDF (Friends of the Israeli Defense Force), Magen David Adom, and Smiles for Scott- among others. We choose these organizations because we have a personal connection to them and want to use this as an opportunity to support their mission.

MIZRACH
Hi! My name is Lia Sussan. My tradition for Hanukkah is saying the Hanukkah blessings each night. I love the tunes of the blessings that are unique to this holiday and time of year — it always puts me in a good mood.

EMTZA
Hi! My name is Seth Kristal. My tradition for Hannukah is that every year, my family exchanges white elephant, or gag gifts. Normally, our gifts are cheap, or free, as we found them around the house, and are almost always funny. For example, last year, I received this toy fossil collection kit from my brother. In it, he had put random items such as baseball cards, pens, and some dirt.

HANEGEV
Hi! My name is Sadie Klaff. My Chanukah tradition is a nightly photo in front of the Channukiahs! Every year, my family and I decorate our house and each light our own menorah, either taking a selfie or timed photo with it. Happy Hanukkah USY!!!

Editors’ Note: Okay, so this is new, an Editors’ Note at the end of an article? What? Well, for this article, we wanted to say thank you to a specific individual who contributed significantly to our Religion and Education-based articles this year. She worked tirelessly to implement her vision of sharing USYer meaningful moments and traditions relating to Judaism throughout this year. So Lily Selznick, from deep within the hearts of the Achshav Blog Coordinators, thank you for all your hard work this year.