Most students of Neshaminy have some traditions that they celebrate over winter break; whether it is family rituals or their yearly movie marathons.

Sophomore, Craig Klevan celebrates an important holiday in the Jewish faith, Hanukkah. Hanukkah is the celebration of the oil in the candles in the Jerusalem Temple lasting eight days. To celebrate, Klevan lights candles every night in order to remember this, along with saying nightly prayers with his family.

“My favorite part is giving and exchanging presents with my family,” Klevan said.

With eight nights of Hanukkah, a lot of candles are lit. The first day of Hanukkah, two are lit. The next day, three are lit. Every day one extra candle is added to the amount that is lit.

High schoolers of Neshaminy may remember eating latkehs, a fried potato treat, and playing with dreidels in elementary school holiday parties.

How to Play Dreidel:
Each player starts with an equal amount of pieces: pennies, gold coin, candy, etc. They also all place one piece in a pot in the middle.
The four sides of a dreidel are nun, gimmel, hey, and shin.
Nun: If a player is to roll a nun, they do nothing.
Gimmel: If a player is to roll a gimmel, they gain everything in the pot.
Hey: If a player is to roll a hey, they gain half of the pot.
Shin: If a player is to roll a shin, they add one piece to the pot.
The game ends when one player has all the pieces.