Jewish families around the world have been celebrating Hanukkah for thousands of years. While it may be considered a minor holiday compared to others, the Festival of Lights has proven to be incredibly important to Jewish Americans, largely because it falls during the Western holiday season.
There are some Hanukkah traditions that have stood the test of time, like lighting the menorah and playing dreidel. However, in 2022, there are plenty of ways to modernize your Hanukkah celebration and create exciting new traditions with your family. In today’s blog post, we’re covering some of our favorite modern ways to celebrate Hanukkah.
Elevate Your Hanukkah Decor
As much as you might love the Hanukkah decor you’ve had for years, consider updating your spread with some new Judaica pieces. The Michael Aram Judaica collection features a broad range of stunning pieces that guarantee to take your holiday decor to the next level. Here are a few of the highlights to check out:
- Apple Honey Pot w/ Spoon Goldtone
- Pomegranate Menorah
- Wisteria Gold Mezuzah
- Black Orchid Kiddush Cup
Try New Hanukkah Recipes
Hanukkah lasts for eight crazy nights, so you have tons of time to discover delicious new recipes. Instead of serving an elaborate feast every night of Hanukkah, try switching things up in a way that gets the whole family involved. For example, you could host a latke-making competition where each person creates their own latke variation.
If your family usually buys sufganiyot at the store, try making your own from scratch. You might just fall in love with the recipe and decorating your homemade sufganiyot with the kids could become your new favorite Hanukkah tradition.
Check out more recipes on our blog!
Teach Your Family New Hanukkah Songs
If your family has been singing the same song around the menorah every year, try finding a new Hanukkah song to teach your children this year. There are plenty of modern songs to choose from, whether you’re looking for something in English or traditional Hebrew.
Shtar and The Maccabeats both have catchy, beautiful Hanukkah songs to listen to. You can also find a Hanukkah playlist on Spotify or Apple Music to play during the festivities.
Switch Up Your Hanukkah Games
We love dreidel as much as the next person, but how about introducing a new game into the mix? Many people don’t realize that there are actually heaps of Hanukkah games out there to play with children.
You could transform the traditional game of dreidel into a fun twist on Scattergories by assigning a Hanukkah-related category to each letter of the dreidel. Another fun idea would be to play Bingo with your gelt – the only challenge is making sure the kids don’t eat their Bingo pieces before the game is over.
The Holidays are the best time of the year, and we love honoring family time no matter what you celebrate. From our family to yours, we hope to inspire new Hanukkah traditions with your family this year and create lasting memories--Chag Sameach!
