Page 1
Chaya hated going to school every day. In the morning,
her mom would wake her up and she would stay in bed.
Page 2
"I don't wanna go to school," Chaya shouted to her mother.
"Get up Chayala, the bus is coming."
Page 3
And so Chaya would get up, barely brush her teeth, put two clips in
her hair, pull on her tights and her polka-dot dress and grab a cookie
for breakfast. No sooner, was her mother pulling her out the door,
thus leaving the door open enough for their little pooch Max
to run out after Chaya and her mother and the school bus.
Page 4
One night, as the first snow started to fall on the ground, Chaya's
mother made two yummy cups of hot chocolate. She sat down
next to Chaya as she grudgingly did her homework.
"Chaya, why do you hate going to school so much?" she asked.
Page 5
Chaya took a deep breath and started telling her mother everything.
"The other kids, they can't say my name. And they make fun of me.
They call me 'Hiya', and they sing Hiya, Hiya. How do you do? We
don't have a name for you!" Chaya sobbed into the
crease of her mother's shoulder.
Page 6
"Chayala, we gave you a very special name. It was the name
of your great-great grandmother, who had ten children, and
still made time to write beautiful poetry. You should be proud
of your name and the strength that it has."
Chaya sniffled and took a sip of her hot chocolate.
She was feeling a little bit better.
Page 7
The next morning, there was no school.
Chaya woke up on her own and was so excited to stay
home with her Mom all day. By the time it was lunch time,
the roads had already been cleared and it was time
to go to Hebrew School.
Page 8
"Today," said Chaya's teacher Naomi, "we are going to start
learning about Chanukah. Everyone say 'Chanukah'.
The class repeated, 'Hanukah'.
"No, no, no, not 'Hanukah' but 'Chanukah'. Say, Ch, Ch, Ch,
like in Chaya," said Naomi, as she tapped Chaya
on the shoulder. All the children started to 'Ch' up a storm.
Page 9
"Ch's are very hard to pronounce. Many adults who speak English can't say them easily, because they didn't learn it at an early age. It is your job, as students of this classroom, to teach the whole world how to say 'Ch'. So if you hear someone say 'Hanukah' say 'Chanukah'. If you hear someone say 'Hiya', say 'Chaya'. Understood?"
Page 10
"Now that we know how to say Chanukah, let's talk a little bit
about it. Chanukah is the story of the Jews living in the land
that is now Israel. A long time ago, there were a people called
the Syrian-Greeks, who wanted everyone to be just like them. Jews
were not allowed to be Jews and to follow their own customs.
But the Jews fought back, they wanted to be who they wanted
to be. They won and since then we celebrate Chanukah for 8 nights."
Page 11
"Why 8 nights?" asked Ralph.
"Great question," said Naomi, "when the Jews had won the war against the Syrian-Greeks, they came back to the Temple, which was a very important building in Jerusalem, and saw that it was almost destroyed. It was tradition in the Temple to light a Menorah that had 6 branches and one middle branch. They could not find any pure olive oil to light the Menorah, until one person found a teeny bit that they thought would only last one night, but in fact it lasted 8 nights."
Page 12
"And so, in our homes we light a Menorah, or Chanukiyah, that has 8 branches and one branch for the shamash, which is used to help light the other candles. It is our duty to share with our neighbors the miracle of Chanukah that happened so many years ago."
Page 13
When Chaya got home from Hebrew School,
Chaya explained to her mom everything that she learned that day.
"I'm so excited to teach people at school how to say 'Ch'.
Page 14
And the next day, that is just what she did. Chaya was no longer
Hiya but Chaya. When the teacher told them that they would have
to bring in something for show and tell that had to do with winter
holidays Chaya knew just what she was going to bring in...
Page 15
A Chanukiyah for Chanukah!
