Hanukkah program in pre-school

Early this month, a special Hanukkah program was celebrated at Enna-Marie's school. There were a lot of singing of Hanukkah songs, lighting of the menorah candles, playing some instruments, a play portrayed by two classmates, and eating of sufganiyot at the end. Sufganiyot is a ball-shaped doughnut that is first deep-fried, then pierced and injected with jelly or custard, and then topped with powdered sugar. EM and mommy have been buying sufganiyots as early as November as we just love them. Of course daddy also gets his share.

PURIM in Gan

Enjoy the photos where all children in Enna-Marie's school are wearing colorful costumes and cute outfits. They had a short programme to celebrate Purim that day and later brought home some Purim goodies.

Purim activities...

Tuesday, 10 March, commemorates the Jewish Holiday of Purim. Purim is one of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish calendar. It celebrates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination, as recorded in the Biblical book of Esther.

Jewish exiles from the Kingdom of Judah who had been living in the Babylonian captivity (6th Century BCE) found themselves under Persian rule after Babylonia was in turn conquered by the Persian Empire. According to the Book of Esther, Haman, royal vizier to King Ahasuerus planned to kill the Jews, but his plans were foiled by Esther, his queen. Mordecai, a palace official and cousin and foster parent of Esther, subsequently replaced Haman. The Jews were delivered from being the victims of an evil decree against them and were instead allowed by the King to destroy their enemies, and the day after the battle was designated as a day of feasting and rejoicing.

Purim is characterized by public recitation of the Book of Esther (keriat ha-megilla), giving mutual gifts of food and drink (mishloach manot), giving charity to the poor (mattanot la-evyonim), and a celebratory meal (se'udat Purim); other customs include wearing of masks and costumes and public celebration. (This information is derived from Wikipedia)

Schoot family wearing costumes at home:




























Face painting activity in Gan (mobile photos):

Aliyah

story telling

Rodrigo & EM

Enna-Marie

Zane & EM

photos taken at home

Hanukkah program in Gan

Enna-Marie, together with the rest of her class, performed during the first evening of Hanukkah for all parents. Singing songs about the festival of Hanukkah and doing dances, eating 'Sufganiyot' (jelly donuts), and providing entertainment to the parents. Below are a few video impressions.



Song about Hanukkah. Enna-Marie is seated third from the left.

Chag Sameach (which means "Happy holidays"). One of Enna-Marie's favourite songs. She is 3rd from the left in the middle row.

Musical performance. Enna-Marie is leftmost in the second row.

Rosh Hashana activities...

During Rosh Hashana (Jewish new year), the moms decided to have a small picnic at the frontyard of the building where we hold our Rose Garden classes. The next day we brought our kids to a park outside Haifa called Hai Park. This was our first time to visit this huge park which is also a zoo. The kids loved the pony and camel rides (Enna-Marie didn't try it this time, but hopefully next time she'll like to try either a ride on a pony or camel), patting and feeding the rabbits, and seeing all the beautiful animals inside the zoo. Everyone had a great time, though we went home exhausted, but happy. At next visit, we will bring other friends who were not able to join us and perhaps bring daddy Maarten as well. Enjoy the photos...

























at Hai Park/Zoo: