Jewish Education/Chanukah Play2

Aliza: שלום וערב טוב. . Good evening. My name is Aliza Ner.

Nicole: and I'm Naomi Nes. Welcome to TNN, The Torah News Network.

Aliza: We are here, broadcasting the English news, live, from Yerushalayim.

Nicole: This evening we commemorate three years since the desecration of the temple. The Maccabbim have been fighting hard and seem to be winning, but there are so many Yevanim that we never know what can happen.

[ Aliza is handed a piece of paper]

Aliza: Wait a minute! I have just been told of some breaking news. There are unconfirmed reports of the Yevanim fleeing Yerushalayim. For more information, we go to our correspondent, Shira Temple, who is coming to us live from the front lines. Shira?

[Shira is standing and talking on the cellphone]

Aliza: Shira, you are on live.

Shira: Oh sorry. Yes, I am standing right next to the entrance of the Bet Hamikdash. Yes, it is true, as you can see behind me. The Yevanim are running away. I'm going to try and catch one of the officers to see what is happening. Excuse me, excuse me, can I...

Edden: Not(os) now(os)! It's too dangeros(os)! I've got(os) to get(os) out(os) of here(os)!

They're(os) coming(os)! They're(os) coming(os)! They're(os) coming(os) after us.

Shira: He's talking in Greek. I couldn't understand him. Let's try and talk with someone else. [Turning to Jonathon] What about you, sir? Have you got a minute?

Jonathon: That's about all I've got.

Shira: Why are you running away?

Jonathon: I can't believe it! I can't believe it! Those Maccabim! There must be thousands, otherwise, they couldn't have beaten us! Now I've got to get out of here!

[Pushes Shira and runs away]

Shira: I can see the Maccabim coming. It looks like a small army to me. Let's go to Shoshana Dreydel, who has been following the Maccabim closely.

Shoshana: Thank you Shira. The Maccabim are just about to enter the temple after winning the battle of Bet Tzur. Here they are! I see Yehudah HaMaccabi! I will try and have a word with him.

[Speaking to Yehuda] Excuse me, sir, we are live on…….

Yehuda: סליחה, אני לא מדבר אנגלית.

[Then calls out to his soldiers]

קדימה להיכנס לבית המקדש!

Shoshana: Oh no! Can anyone here translate for me?

Edden: [With an Israeli accent] I can try.

Shoshana: Ask him what's going on.

Edden: מה קורה פה?

Yehuda: הצלחנו לשחרר את בית המקדש!

Edden: We have succeeded in freeing the temple!

Shoshana: What are you going to do now?

Edden: מה אתם הולכים לעשות עכשיו?

Yehuda: נטהר את בית המקדש ונדליק את המנורה.

Edden: We are going to purify the Bet HaMikdash and re-light the Menorah!

Shoshana: תודה רבה. Oh, I see our Miriam Menorah heading into the Bet HaMikdash. Miriam, What is happening inside? Have they lit the Menorah?

Miri: Not yet. I see the soldiers looking for something.

[Turning to one of the soldiers] מה אתם מחפשים?

Elli: שמן זית זך

Miri: אבל יש פה הרבה כדים של שמן?

Dani: כן, אבל הם טמאים.

[All of the soldiers are looking. One soldier comes running]

Elli: מצאתי! מצאתי כד קטן!

[Everyone comes to see. The jug is handed to Yehudah HaMaccabi]

Yehudah: טוב מאד. Let's open it!

[It's opened, and...]

Dani: But there's so little oil there! It's not going to last very long.

[ A collective "ooooooyyyyyyy vvvvvveyyyyyyy"]

Miri: We hope that the Maccabee soldiers will find a bigger jug of olive oil to light the Menorah.

This has been Miriam Menorah, TNN news, Bet Hamikdash, Yerushalayim. Now back to you Naomi at TNN Headquarters.

Nicole: Thanks Miriam. How will they get enough oil to light the Menorah? Let's see what's happening in the Gallil, where the olive oil is made.

[2 workers are picking the olives from the trees]

Nicole: האם יש עכשיו זיתים על העצים?

[No answer]

Are there any olives on the trees?

Elli: Of course. It is the olives season. There are many olives on the trees.

Nicole: How long does it take to make olive oil?

Dani: About two or three days.

Nicole: תודה רבה.

So now we know that it takes two to three days to prepare the olive oil. But how long does it take to bring it to Yerushalyim? Here with us is the famous expert in olive oil, Doctor Shemen Zayit. Good evening, Doctor.

Jonathon: Good evening.

Nicole: How long would it take for the oil to get from the Gallil to Yerushalayim?

Jonathon: Using my expertise in this subject for many years, I can conclude that since it will take 3 days to walk each way, there is no chance at all that any oil would reach the temple in less than 8 days, at which point this small jug of oil will burn out.Therefore...

[A paper is handed to Aliza]

Aliza: Excuse me, doctor, we have some breaking news. Back to Shira in the temple.

Shira: נס! נס! איזה נס!

Aliza: What happened?

Shira: I don't believe it! When the Kohanim poured the oil into the Menorah, the jug stayed full! We will have enough! What a miracle! Let's ask Yehudah HaMaccabi what exactly happened.

Yehudah: Well, actually what you said was according to one opinion. According to another opinion, what we did was divide the little jug into 8 small parts, and each small part was enough for each day.

Shira: Well, one way or another, there was a great miracle!

[Everybody gathers around and calls out] :

נס גדול היה פה! נס גדול היה פה! נס גדול היה פה!

כד קטן

כד קטן

שמונה ימים שמנו נתן

כל העם התפלא

מאליו הוא מתמלא

כל העם אז התכנס

והכריז אך זהו נס

אילולי כד זה נשאר

מקדשנו לא הואר

Written by Amihai Bannett (atbannett@yahoo.com)

Special thanks to Sharon Schaeffer - Goldenberg.