2nd night of Chanukkah and Havdalah

Havdalah is the closing of our Sabbath (Shabbat). We always have a ton of people over. This week wasnt as big because there were sickies and some other family gatherings, but we still had a pretty good turn out.

We started at sundown, with the little havdalah ceremony. Dad lead with Aunt Melissa doing the handy work (ma was a bit dizzy, so I kept to just the photos).

We light a braided candle to show the unity we have gained getting together with others on shabbat. It also shows that when our lights are banded together we glow so much brighter and reminds us that Yeshua is the light of the world.



Then we smell the sweet spices to remind us our sweet rest during the sabbath. (Using all 5 senses) Lots of people use different spices, we use a mix of all spice, cinnamon, and nutmeg.



Then we talk about our wine bottle and what it represents. It is like God, and as we pour the wine into the cup He is filling us with Joy. We always fill it overflowing it onto the plate, to show how He is overflowing us with Joy to last our whole week and to share with others. Also that the overflowing wine should remind us of the blood Yeshua spilt to cover our sins. We each drink from the cup (sickies last ;) ) We ask the kids to explain each one, its really a wonderful time for them to learn and teach.

I also didnt mention we have a traditional blessing we sing for each part (candle, spices, wine), we sing them(in hebrew) because once again it helps them stick in our minds better.


Then we close Shabbat by extiguishing the candle in the overspilled wine. We do this with the all the lights out. This reminds us of the darkness that exists without God and we say a silent prayer for all those we know that dont have God in their life.

Then ofcourse its on to more candle lighting for Chanukkah. We had all the families bring their chanukiahs to light together. All the kids got to light one (except the baby ofcourse)





We spent the rest of the evening in midrash (biblical discussion, aka-friendly biblical arguing, LOL) and the kids played driedel, their new "cranium" game and watching Rugrats Chanukkah which is a family fav. Oh and dont forget donuts and latkes again, YUMMMMMY