Wolmirstedt Gerhard Schöne School celebrates Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights
At the “Gerhard Schöne” special school in Wolmirstedt, the Jewish festival of Hanukkah has been celebrated alongside the Christian Christmas festival for many years. This came about many years ago thanks to the late historian and Israel expert Dr. Eckart Frey, who was then chairman of the Schöne School’s support association and, among other things, established contact between the Wolmirstedt school and the “Beit Uri” facility for the disabled in Israel. That was 19 years ago and there are still good relations between the institutions to this day, with live links, visits and joint projects.
Teacher Nir Lasri, who belongs to the Jewish faith and, among other things, heads a state-wide educational project in Saxony-Anhalt that aims to educate young people about Judaism and anti-Semitism, visited the Schöne School for Hanukkah. He briefly explained to the pupils what the Festival of Lights is all about and why the candles are lit on the so-called Hanukkia, the nine-branched candlestick. Because the Schöne School held its Hanukkah celebration on the third day of the eight-day festival, three candles were lit. Three candles from an Advent wreath were also lit at the celebration and the pupils were told about the differences and similarities between the two religions’ celebrations.
The children and young people as well as the staff around principal Ines Winnig actually wanted to celebrate together with their friends in Israel via the internet, but the technology there failed. Without further ado, however, videos were sent to each other so that both institutions were connected for the special occasion. Wolmirstedt’s new mayor Mike Steffens was impressed by the celebration and praised what the organizers had put together over the years. He and other guests learned new things about Jewish tradition at the event.
