Holidays are incredibly significant in religion, and highlight stories, seasons, or other significant aspects of a religion. Many Jewish holidays celebrate important moments in their people's history. In this activity, students will create a spider map highlighting the major holidays celebrated by the Jewish people. They should describe the significance of each holiday and create an illustration to help summarize what it is and how it is practiced.
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Due Date:
Objective: Create a spider map focusing on 3-5 different major holidays in Judaism.
Student Instructions:
Requirements: Minimum of 3 cells showcasing different major holidays celebrated by Jewish people. Appropriate scenes to illustrate each cell. 1-3 sentence description for each cell demonstrating your understanding.
Begin by conducting a general discussion on holidays and why different kinds of holidays are celebrated all over the world. Make distinctions between religious holidays, cultural holidays, and national or country-based holidays. Explain to the students that holidays are usually celebrated because of a significant event that usually occurred in the past on the same date.
Explain to the students that they will be making a holiday-themed chart based on their favorite holidays. Give freedom of choice to students to pick one holiday according to their own interests. For instance, students to like Christmas can make a Christmas-themed chart explaining the origin, the purpose, and the festivities of the holiday.
Encourage the students to be as creative as they want with their charts. Students can use different colors, symbols, and visuals for their charts. Students can also create storyboards or spider maps to relay this information and use hand-drawn visuals to give the chart an interesting and different look.
Students who have picked the same holidays can work together to expand on each other’s ideas and build on one another’s creativity. Another way students can collaborate on this activity is to compare, contrast, or connect each other’s chosen holidays. For instance, if one student has chosen Christmas and another one has chosen Hanukkah, they can each make individual charts on their chosen holidays and collaborate on the comparison.
Once the students are done with their charts, encourage them to display their charts and give a five-minute presentation of their holiday using the chart in front of the class. The students will be able to learn about multiple holidays in this way and analyze each other’s findings.
The High Holy Days officially begin on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Occurring in September or early October, this holiday marks the season of joy, reflection, and redemption.
The eight-day festival of Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, honors the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. It entails playing games, lighting the menorah, and giving and receiving presents. The festival is celebrated for eight days in honor of the miracle due to which the lamp oil lasted for eight days in the past.
The holiday of Sukkot, also called the Feast of Tabernacles, honors the harvest and remembers the Israelites' wanderings in the desert. It entails constructing sukkahs, which are transient buildings, and living in them.