With Hanukkah coming up, I wanted to provide you with eight Hanukkah themed social media posts that you can use! This holiday, which garners a TON of attention, is a perfect opportunity to up your social media game. More importantly, it gives you a chance to provide some needed value to your followers and community.
There are tons of versions of these posts and I’m excited to see what you come up with!
This is part of the Social Media Guide for Rabbis and Synagogues
1. How to “do” Hanukkah videos
These are the low-hanging fruit of Hanukkah themed social media posts! They are useful and they provide clear value.
In these videos, you can explain how to light candles, how to set up your menorah, or even how to cook your favorite Hanukkah food. How to do X videos are particularly great because they can be simple to make and they have obvious value to the viewer. They will be able to do something at the end!
On a more tactical level, these videos bring search benefits in that they are valuable every single year. On YouTube, that search capability over the long term can bring you in front of your audience for years to come.
Below, I’ve attached my two how-to videos on Hanukkah that I made last year.
2. Making meaning of the holiday
This is a big one. Hanukkah, in particular, sometimes gets subsumed into the entire season and there are so many opportunities to bring important Torah into the lives of your people.
In this Hanukkah themed social media post, you can post a blog post, an Instagram-style post (with words over images), or a video in which you teach the meaning of this holiday.
3. Live stream your candle lighting
This Hanukkah themed social media post takes a touch of planning and a possibly communal context.
Live streaming your Hanukkah candle lighting can be incredibly powerful for your community. For those individuals who cannot leave their homes, who live in other cities, and just as a sense of feeling together, you can bring your candle lighting into their lives.
Facebook Live, Periscope, Instagram Live, and Youtube Live are all different tools you can use to go live.
4. Pictures of kid’s programming/craft making
These are always winners. Almost everyone loves seeing kids engaging with holiday traditions.
Depending on what your community or your rabbinate looks like, you might have a preschool, a religious school, or even your own children who can provide you opportunities. Of course, privacy is important, so permission really matters here.
You might want to post pictures of your kids making hanukkiot, decorating a space, or perhaps doing something else. For example, if your community does volunteering for Hanukkah, capturing that will be valuable too!
5. Holiday Recipes
As we know, providing value is the primary goal with any social media posting. This one can bring your community together.
Each holiday has its own food attached to it and Hanukkah is no exception. This gives you a chance to share your favorite recipes! If you have a personal favorite or your community has a special recipe, this Hanukkah themed social media post is perfect. It could be your latke recipe or how you make your sufganiyot!
You can post a video of you making it and teaching everyone else, you can post the written recipe itself, and if you are on Instagram, posting that Insta-worthy food photo is great.
6. Tradition explanations
Like the how-to posts above, there are lots of traditions for each holiday. Each one is special and personal and can be really fun for your audience!
It might be a tradition like the game dreidel. You can explain the rules or post pictures of yourself playing. My family makes spinach latkes every year and sharing why that is and how we make them can be really meaningful for others. Each community also has traditions and sharing their history can bring people together.
7. Holiday music
There are a few things you can do around music that can be valuable for your audience.
For those with a persuasion for music, posting a recording of you playing, either in video or audio forms might be great. It might also be valuable to post lyrics or recordings of Hanukkah songs. They can be traditional songs, personal favorites, or communal highlights!
Some communities have Hanukkah events, like concerts, sharing those can also be meaningful!
8. Your own Hanukkah experiences
People want to feel that who they follow are actual human beings.
As leaders, you can share your own, personal Hanukkah experiences. Everything is about how you share it, so framing your experiences so that other people can appreciate them is key. You do have to recognize the sense of privacy of your family and those around you.
In the end, sharing your personal life is about balance.
This is a Hanukkah post I shared in 2017 for an example!
I hope this list inspires you to come up with some great, meaningful, and engaging Hanukkah-themed social media posts!!