Students’ Play Retells Hanukkah Story

The auditorium at Valley Beth Shalom became a time machine on Friday, traveling back to ancient Syria, before Hanukkah was conceived, let alone celebrated.

On stage appeared the Jews struggling against an oppressive Syrian rule for their independence and breaking into song every so often to explain how they felt.

So it was not really a time-traveling experience as much as a play performed by the fifth-grade students at the school. But it was, indeed, an attempt at a historical portrayal of one of the most important time periods in Judaism.

Students, clad in robes and turbans, and some with Nike and Adidas sneakers instead of sandals, recounted the tale of how the eight-day celebration of Hanukkah was created.

The students took on the roles with ease: One had a flowing white beard that made him look a bit like Jerry Garcia, another grabbed the microphone and broke into song as the Syrian king.

“They are simply wonderful,” said Derrel Friedman, the drama teacher and director of the play. “They have such great spirit.”

The play, titled “Hanukkah Heroes,” was the culmination of a weeklong celebration of Hanukkah at the school. The school will be closed when the actual eight-day holiday begins at sundown Tuesday.

All week long, students learned Hanukkah songs, studied the holiday’s traditions and partied a bit, too.

The fifth-graders had been rehearsing the play for three months. It was adapted from a play with 15 roles and converted to suit 35 roles, said Friedman.

“We wanted to give everyone a part,” he said.

Each year a different grade performs a play around the holidays, said Denise Tomey, the school’s development director.

And the fifth-graders really took advantage of their year. Singing Hanukkah songs, many to melodies from “Jesus Christ Superstar,” the students performed choreographed dance numbers and hit all the punch lines on their jokes, much to the delight of the approximately 300 students in the audience.