Chanukah

These candles don’t fit!

My son pulled out a new box of Hanukkah candles, examined them and proclaimed, “These are not going to fit in the Hanukkiah.”  So I had to laugh when I read Rabbi Larry Milder‘s email to his congregation, Beth Emek, the very next morning titled, The Candles Don’t Fit in the Menorah. Here’s what he…

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A Covid December Dilemma – what the heck will we do?

(Photo of Smashed fried plantains topped with Cuban-style pot roast make a perfect Hanukkah appetizer. by Faith Kramer) Hanukkah starts tonight. Christmas is two weeks away. Nothing about our holidays will be the same this year.  No big dinners, no parties, not even a cozy coffee with a friend. No shopping, no baking and dropping…

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Why we increase the number of Hanukkah candles

Rabbi Larry Milder of Beth Emek recently sent this explanation to his congregation. It’s a useful, brief history telling us why we light an additional candle each night of Hanukkah instead of the reverse.   Increasing the Light in Dark Times Most Jews are accustomed to lighting Hanukkah candles by adding one candle to the…

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With which family will you spend the holidays?

Where Will You Spend Thanksgiving and Christmas/Hanukkah? Non-Jewish families are often confronted with which spouse’s family will get them for Christmas. One solution is to flip back and forth for Thanksgiving and Christmas. For interfaith families the question of “who gets us?” can be, Thanksgiving with the Jewish family and Christmas with the Christian (or…

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Where do Latkes come from?

A lovely young Irish woman told her mother that she would be attending her first Hanukkah celebration and latkes would be made! Her mother said, “As I understand it, latkes have something to do with potatoes. You’ll be fine!” I’m not Irish and I’m not particularly fond of potatoes. So my latkes include parsnips and…

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