On December 22, the Book Professors Club members watched nativity scenes in the Book Museum.
Batleyka – the Belarusian Nativity Scene – is an original puppet show, which had spread in Belarus, starting from the 16th century. This theatrical art was well know in Eastern Europe and was called vertep in Ukeaine, shopka in Poland and batleyka in Belarus. The word batleyka originates from Bethlehem, the ancient city where Jesus Christ was born. The wooden box, which looked like a hut or a church, was carried on hands or on a sleigh. Batleykas were one-storied, two-stories and even tree-storied. Actors opened the doors of the magical box, manipulated puppets and spoke in different voices.
In the Book Museum, the amateur theater "Batleyka" showed the biblical scenes of Christ's birth, worship of the shepherds and the Magi-Kings, and King Herod’s massacre of the innocents. During an interactive performance the children not simply watched and listened, but became actors themselves, singing and dancing.
At the end each participant made a Bethlehem star, a symbol of hope for salvation, faith in God's love and a better life. According to the Christian tradition, magi saw the star and learned that the baby was born, destined to become the King of the Jews. The star of Bethlehem is also called the "Christmas Star".
