Stories for Advent and Hanukkah
by Eugene Schwartz
Click on a title to download the story.
For free articles, lectures, videos, and our Online Catalog,
click on the Home tab above.
What Happened to a Blade of Grass: An Advent Story
It was in mid-November that a challenging bullying issue arose in my fourth grade class. There were no physical threats, but one boy with an especially sharp tongue was hurling insults at a sensitive and insecure classmate whenever he had the chance. Loki’s vituperative downfall would not be part of our story content for several more months, and I had to take some measures immediately. Having been asked to speak at the Green Meadow Waldorf School’s first Advent Assembly, I created this “pedagogical story” for the school, for my class, and especially for the bully and his victim. There are experts who claim that telling pedagogical stories is no longer an effective antidote to social problems, but I beg to differ. Try this story for yourself.
The Solitary Swan: An Advent Story
As the Primary School child begins to develop a healthy “sense of self”
late in Grade Two or in early Grade Three, the potential for selfishness arises,
as well. This story tries to meet this challenge, even while it provides a
pre-Zoology “Just-So” theme that the children enjoy.
Judith and Jason: A Hanukkah Story
The Hellenized Jews of 2nd and 1st century BCE Jerusalem were the first
“assimilated” Jews in history, and their complex relationship to the traditions
of the ancient Israelites helped precipitate the crisis that led to the war
commemorated in the story of Hanukkah. This is a story good for Grade Five
and older, and it is especially relevant to today’s daily news dispatches concerning immigration, and ethnic and racial identity issues.
The Miracle of the Menorah: A Hanukkah Story
This story was written to celebrate a very rare event: the occurrence of the first night of Hanukkah on St. Nicholas Day. Although the story is specific in time — the late 1930s — and place — Poland — it has become the most-widely told Advent/Hanukkah story in Waldorf schools around the world.
The Tale of Rabbi Shammai: A Hanukkah Story
Grade Six and older students are intrigued by this existential story even as they learn the surprising narrative behind the way in which the Hanukkah Menorah is lit every night. In the spirit of “The Prince and the Pauper” or Tolstoy’s “Esserhardon, King of Assyria,” this tale allows a grand and powerful man to walk a mile in another man’s sandals and be forever changed by that experience.
For free articles, lectures, videos, and our Online Catalog,
click on the Home tab above.
by Eugene Schwartz
Click on a title to download the story.
For free articles, lectures, videos, and our Online Catalog,
click on the Home tab above.
What Happened to a Blade of Grass: An Advent Story
It was in mid-November that a challenging bullying issue arose in my fourth grade class. There were no physical threats, but one boy with an especially sharp tongue was hurling insults at a sensitive and insecure classmate whenever he had the chance. Loki’s vituperative downfall would not be part of our story content for several more months, and I had to take some measures immediately. Having been asked to speak at the Green Meadow Waldorf School’s first Advent Assembly, I created this “pedagogical story” for the school, for my class, and especially for the bully and his victim. There are experts who claim that telling pedagogical stories is no longer an effective antidote to social problems, but I beg to differ. Try this story for yourself.
The Solitary Swan: An Advent Story
As the Primary School child begins to develop a healthy “sense of self”
late in Grade Two or in early Grade Three, the potential for selfishness arises,
as well. This story tries to meet this challenge, even while it provides a
pre-Zoology “Just-So” theme that the children enjoy.
Judith and Jason: A Hanukkah Story
The Hellenized Jews of 2nd and 1st century BCE Jerusalem were the first
“assimilated” Jews in history, and their complex relationship to the traditions
of the ancient Israelites helped precipitate the crisis that led to the war
commemorated in the story of Hanukkah. This is a story good for Grade Five
and older, and it is especially relevant to today’s daily news dispatches concerning immigration, and ethnic and racial identity issues.
The Miracle of the Menorah: A Hanukkah Story
This story was written to celebrate a very rare event: the occurrence of the first night of Hanukkah on St. Nicholas Day. Although the story is specific in time — the late 1930s — and place — Poland — it has become the most-widely told Advent/Hanukkah story in Waldorf schools around the world.
The Tale of Rabbi Shammai: A Hanukkah Story
Grade Six and older students are intrigued by this existential story even as they learn the surprising narrative behind the way in which the Hanukkah Menorah is lit every night. In the spirit of “The Prince and the Pauper” or Tolstoy’s “Esserhardon, King of Assyria,” this tale allows a grand and powerful man to walk a mile in another man’s sandals and be forever changed by that experience.
For free articles, lectures, videos, and our Online Catalog,
click on the Home tab above.