Pitting the olives to prepare them for the olive press at Temple B’nai Abraham in Livingston are second grade Jewish Learning Program students Jordan Mailman and Lily Harrison or West Orange.
LIVINGSTON, NJ — The students of the Jewish Learning Program of Temple B’nai Abraham in Livingston recently enjoyed learning about the upcoming holiday of Hanukkah. They particularly delighted in the hands-on experience of making oil for Hanukkah menorahs, one of the key symbols of this Jewish holiday. The students participated in the workshop that demonstrated the process used by the Maccabees, the heroes of the miracle of Hanukkah, to refine olive oil for the Temple menorah. The students delighted in squeezing the fresh olives in a hand press, straining the extract, spinning it in a centrifuge that separates the pure oil and then fashioning wicks out of cotton for use with the oil when lighting the menorah, all under the guidance and auspices of Rabbi Yisroel Rosenbaum of The Living Legacy, who set up the olive oil press at the temple.
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