Thank you I will be trying an oil lamp "chanukia" for the first time (it starts tonight), should be fun!
Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate it! Hanukkah has interested me at a distance since childhood, although I know so very little. (Back then, I think I first learned of it reading an article in a kid's magazine talking about it, and probably some of the cultural things--I definitely remember the dreidel. I think I might have even made a dreidel using preprinted punch out that you'd punch out and glue/tape together...) This year, there has been an impressive collection of Hanukkah merchandise at my local Target. Actually much of this merchandise qualifies as crap, including an electric light up Menorah that makes some of the tacky Christmas decorations across the store look like something Martha Stewart might use. Now that Christmas has been brutally raped, I guess Corporate America needs a new holiday to turn to... At least I didn't see any Hannukah gift wrap with swastikas, which apparently was a problem this year. (Hallmark pulls Hanukkah gift wrap after Walgreen's swastika complaint | UTSanDiego.com)
The commemoration of the miracle of the lamplight lasting 8 days when there was only enough oil for one is a kind of anchor that directs the real message of Chanuka (which means dedication, as in the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem, interestingly the root of that word is also used to denote education). It is primarily to commemorate the victory of the Maccabees (a Jewish sect) against the Hasmonean Greeks who invaded the Holy Land and desecrated the Temple, the actual miracle that the lighting of the lights commemorates was that it was a victory of the few (vastly outnumbered defenders) over the many. The dreidel, a kind of spinning top is a pedagogical game with a letter on each of the four sides: nun, gimmel, hey and shin. If the letters fall in the order given here, they spell out the phrase: Nes Gadol Haya Sham which means: "A great miracle occurred there", whoever gets that order of letters first wins the game. Traditional foods during this time are latkes and suvganiot which are fried potato pancakes and deep-fried jam-filled doughnuts, respectively. Oily foods represent the oil of the lamp (besides they're delicious!) Common Jewish theme: they tried to kill us, but we won, let's eat!
And just in time for the holidays...Dr. Dreidel! Dr. Dreidel: Where Hip-Hop Meets Hanukkah - ABC News
Since its a Hanukkah thread, I just got back from picking up gifts for my two daughters. We are having Hanukkah dinner at my place on Thursday. I am actually going to attempt to cook a bit of an elaborate meal (since I only have been learning to cook over the past few years). I hope if comes out OK!
Hey good luck with your meal. I'm usually in charge of the latkes but we're not doing anything this year. I recently came across a tip in a recipe which seemed pretty smart. It said to put the grated potato and onion in a colander and pour boiling water over it and let it drain and cool then squeeze the mixture out (in a dish towel) and carry on. I always found I wasn't sure the potato was cooked on the inside even if the outside looked done so I liked this idea of "pre-cooking" the potato.
as a Catholic who has not had a lot of exposure to Jewish traditions, I am just loving this thread. This is so cool! Not just the specific foods and traditions, but the family warmth that comes through the posts. My faith tradition is pretty hard on people like me, because it has to have a written rule to cover every tiny aspect of life. Is it any better in Judaism? Or is it such a broad spectrum that there is no way to answer that question? Do the holidays bring up any issues for you? You probably know, this time of year is the peak time for depression, and I don't know if religion plays any factor in that, or if it's all about the change of seasons and lack of daylight. If I'm too far off topic, feel free to ignore me. But I'm just curious about how our backgrounds and raising affects our psyches, if that is really a factor at all.
Well, if you're an orthodox Jew, believe me there are rules from sunrise to sunset (and everything in between)! However there are several schisms that have developed over the last century, more or less, and there are several options for adherence to religious practice, ranging from very liberal (Reconstructionist) to ultra-orthodox (and even with this last group, there are various sects and ideologies). Only about 5% of Jews can be considered Orthodox, which isn't many. It is no coincidence that Hanukah, or the festival of lights, occurs during the winter solstice, I believe Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights in India is similar, but occurs in either October or November when the day-to-day change in day length is most pronounced. My understanding is that Christmas is a Roman pagan winter-solstice festival that was transformed into the deeply Christian holiday that it is today. In Judaism, Hanukah is not a major holiday, few will travel for family gatherings, it's a festive and happy occasion that is widely celebrated among close family members.
OK, so it sounds like there is the same spectrum that exists in Christian denominations. I wonder if the Muslims have a similar spectrum. I've lived in a few different Muslim countries, and had no problem finding gay men there, but I don't think that the religion was really tolerant of homosexuality. In fact, there were even some serious civil penalties if you got caught. Maybe this is more of a problem with the monotheistic religions. It didn't seem to be such an issue when I lived in different countries in Asia, other than the Philippines (which is pretty Catholic, but on a practical level, more open than the Muslim countries I lived in). Anyway, I didn't mean to hijack the thread. My apologies! :icon_redf and HAPPY HANUKKAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eusa_danc
I've heard this, too. One line I've heard is that it was on purpose as part of converting pagans, or some such thing. I'm not sure how "deeply Christian" Christmas is. Yes, it's got a tie to Christianity, but there is now a very strong secular side. And it's been argued by some that it really isn't that important a holiday to Christianity, at least compared to Easter. I won't presume to speak for Hanukkah. But I've been thinking about the idea of the holiday season being this time of year recently. I've watched some video clips recently of a local church's Advent series. One comment the minster made again and again that made sense to me is that this was a hard time of year in the Northern Hemisphere in centuries gone by. It was a dark time of the year, cold, and the growing season was over. People would hole up in their cottage or where ever until spring. And there was the bitter reality that not everyone would survive the winter. And so the holiday season was important. It gave some hope, and a moment of brightness in winter. Candles and lights in general gave light during a dark time. Greenery brought inside could bring life inside. I read this already in an article on 7 things everyone should know about Hanukkah. The author says:Here is how not-important Hanukkah is, from a religious standpoint, to Judaism. During most religious holidays, observant Jews have to abide by the same rules they do on Shabbat (Saturdays): no work, restricted use of technology, etc. Those rules aren't in play on Hanukkah. The only theological obligation on Hanukkah is lighting the candles on the menorah for each of the holiday's eight nights — the centerpiece of the holiday. Everything else that is associated with Hanukkah has just sprung up as custom over the millennia. Why did Hanukkah become such a big deal for contemporary Jews? You likely know the answer to this one already: Christmas. Link to the full article: 7 surprising things everyone should know about Hanukkah - Vox
