GREENSBORO
As she reads When Mindy Saved Hanukkah to the children in her daughter's third-grade class at Claxton Elementary, Wendee Cutler pauses long enough to explain that "Zayde" is another word for grandpa.
The children are deeply enthralled by the story of people the size of mice who live in the crevices of the Eldridge Street Synagogue and are preparing for Hanukkah -- as the new cat brought in to catch mice hampers the effort of the family to find candles for their menorah.
Cutler's storytelling is part of the holiday traditions that students and their parents have shared in many public-school classrooms, especially here, in Darice Wooten's class, where differences are celebrated.
"It's fun when it's your turn," said Alexa Cutler, who, with classmate Sydnee Epstein, assisted her mom by holding up pictures for their class to see from another copy of the book. Alexa has a vast collection of books about Hanukkah, which celebrates the victory of a small band of Jews over religious oppressors and the miracle of the lights in the temple, when a one-day supply of oil lasted eight days. The book references the story in ways that children brought up in the faith will easily recognize, while not in an overly religious way for other classmates.
"Well," Cutler continued reading, quoting "Papa" as he gasps about what he has just been through. "I guess someone finally did something about those mice in the synagogue! ... A fierce Antiochus of a cat! Like that king who tried to wipe out the Jewish people in the days of the Maccabees."
Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish festival of lights that began with the lighting of the first candle at sundown Dec. 21, is a minor holiday in the Jewish calendar, but it is probably the best-known among non-Jews because of its proximity to Christmas. Similarities, too, can be drawn to Christmas -- the ribbon, wrapping paper and gifts; the emphasis on lights; the families coming together around food and friends.
It is also the first recorded battle for religious liberty.
In the story, "Papa" has come home tattered, and without even a single Hanukkah candle from the synagogue, Cutler tells them, as Jacob Egloff leans forward at his desk in front of her and references the size of the dreidel as compared with the miniature people. He knows dreidels are game pieces because of a previous classmate's presentation.
"Papa," Cutler continues, needs to find a candle that can be melted into nine smaller candles for their menorah. Mindy tells the family that she can get past the cat, find a candle and roll it back through the sliver of a door to their home behind the walls of the synagogue. Just like the unraveling of a good holiday story, there is calm before calamity, which is then overcome by a miracle.
In the end, the students learn about courage, risk and rewards -- and to persevere, as the grandfather also enters the battle with the cat, using a bottle cap as a shield and a toothpick as a sword.
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