Chanukah, a new-ish holiday (to Jews of certain heritage)
By Ariel Solomon Jewish Day School Hebrew and Judaics Director
Chanukah, the Holiday of Lights, is one of the most beloved holidays among Jewish people and the most famous Jewish holiday across the country. If you want to describe Chanukah by referring to the explanation the Holiday Armadillo offered on “Friends,” you might not be completely accurate. But did you know there are groups of Jewish people who didn’t know about Chanukah until relatively recently?
Over Thanksgiving, while we all celebrated and enjoyed the long weekend with family and friends, another Jewish holiday took place, a lesser-known holiday that isn’t as famous as Chanukah. Every year, Ethiopian Jewry
celebrates the Sigd holiday. This holiday takes place 50 days after Yom Kippur, and this year it took place during the Thanksgiving weekend. At the Jewish Day School, we discussed with the students the diversity of the Jewish people and the connection of Ethiopian Jewry to the rest of the Jewish community.
It is believed that Ethiopian Jewry descended from King Solomon and Queen Sheba. When this population left the biblical land of Israel with Queen Sheba, they lost their connection to the rest of the Jewish people as the years passed. About the same time as the first aliyot (immigration to Israel), a group of Ethiopian Jews arrived in Jerusalem and were surprised to discover Jews living there. They brought customs that had much in common with
the old traditions, but not everything, because they weren’t part of the Jewish world during the time that the Mishnah and Talmud were written and Purim and Chanukah were first celebrated.
Another group that developed apart from the rest of the Jewish people was discovered in northeast India and is believed to be the long-lost half-tribe of Menashe. They also have many traditions related to the Torah but are not familiar with the newer holidays and the Mishnah and Talmud, since they stayed disconnected from the rest of the Jewish people. Understanding the differences among Jewish groups and how diverse we are is a key component of embracing our Jewish identity and being able to tell our indigenous story, knowing that the land of Israel is our home.
During these challenging times, with Israel still at war, and after commemorating the events of October 7, 2023, our Jewish Day School students participated in a volunteer project they created. The students made Israeli, Jewish-themed, and Chanukah friendship bracelets. We sold these at the JDS Holiday Market on November 24
to raise money and help with the commemoration project “Livnat’s Wings,” which is organized by the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley.
Chanukah is a lot of fun, as we light the candles together, eat latkes and sufganiyot, play with dreidels, and win some gelt. And yet, it has a deeper level of significance. Chanukah is also about spreading and enhancing the light through the dark. Our students at the JDS love doing just that. Before the holiday, they visited their pen pals at Country Meadows retirement community and got them into the Chanukah spirit. We lit the candles, sang some Chanukah songs,
played games, and gave the pen pals a Chanukah care bag to get them in the holiday spirit.
The celebrations for us won’t end there. On the last day of Chanukah, we’ll come together as a school to light the Chanukah candles, enjoy some latkes and sufganiyot, and celebrate our connection to the story of the Jewish nation across the world.
That’s a lot more than the Holiday Armadillo accomplished.
Wishing you a Chanukah Sameach full of light and joy with your family and friends.
By Nurit Galon Partnership2Gether
When we were children, and even as adults, the very name Chanukah immediately brought up the image of so many good things. We have many holidays in Judaism, and although not so many are happy and joyful, instead marking tragedies in our history, we have our triumphant times too. When they include successes and good food, good music and the hypnotic stories of the oil lasting eight days, and the success of the Maccabees, it’s almost a command to light the candles and perform the other ceremonies.
The day before I wrote this, kids across the country were busy preparing chanukiot (Chanukah menorahs), some traditional, some imaginative, for the coming holiday. Then, early the next morning, the all-too-familiar and unwelcome sound of the warning sirens was heard throughout the Yoav region. Quickly, residents moved into their safe rooms, if they had one, or ran to shelters, babies and toddlers in hand, bundles of clean clothes in the other. Others moved into
board, under a strong table . . . really!—until the all-clear sounded.
The children’s minds and imaginations quickly returned to their Chanukah activities, while their parents smiled ruefully at one another. Was there ever again going to be a life for Israelis without the fear of an unexpected pogrom like the one after a recent soccer game in Amsterdam? Amsterdam?! Wasn’t Amsterdam our friend?
I think back to World War II, and my family returning to London after the fighting, in 1947. My mother commented how great it was that we could openly be Jewish again.
In the Zionist Youth Movement there, I first heard about Mordechai Anielevitz, leader of the Jewish Combat Organization resistance movement and hero of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. From that moment, it was
was building a Jewish home, I wanted to be part of it. So at age 21, I joined a group at Kibbutz Nachshonim in Israel. It was a hard but wonderful time. We were pioneers building a Jewish homeland! Every Chanukah, as we lit the torches and sang Chanukah songs, we really felt that we, and in fact all the Jewish people throughout the world, were the rightful heirs to the Maccabees. We felt in our hearts that as we sang, the ghosts of the Maccabees nodded approvingly.
The world is changing. There’s fighting everywhere, even though it’s not clear how many people know why or for what they’re fighting. I believe that we as Jews know what we’re fighting for; our history and beliefs are so strongly a part of us and guiding us.
So, as our children dress up as Chanukah candles or latkes or doughnuts, let’s make sure they know why. Make sure they know that they’re the heirs of an amazing people and that one day their children will tell their children the wonderful story of Chanukah, hopefully in a wiser and more benevolent world.
The younger attendees enjoyed a donut bar, dreidel decorating, and beeswax candle crafting. Jewish music filled the air and everyone had a wonderful time. Chag Sameach! Shoppers
Local artists, gift vendors, Jewish Day School, and the JDS Student Council turned the school’s multipurpose room into a holiday market shopping extravaganza on November 24. JDS families, community members, and guests from all over the Lehigh
Valley visited the booths and discovered treasures.
Finding ourselves in the mirror of the other
By Rabbi Shoshanah Tornberg Congregation Keneseth Israel
In medieval times, Jews in Europe were particularly taken with Purim. There was a strong way in which the story of Purim resonated deeply with the life stories and communal challenges of these Jews. Living with the pogroms and suffering that are unfortunately so closely associated with the European Jewish experience in the Middle Ages undoubtedly took a toll that touched on every aspect of Jewish life.
It makes sense: The story we read in the Book of Esther is one of the Jews living in a non-Jewish society. Things
seem generally manageable for the Jewish community in Persia under Ahashveirosh, at least at the beginning. I mean, Esther is supposed to keep her identity a secret, so it’s not perfect. But, soon, as you may remember, the Jews of Shushan began to face increasingly dark times. With the rise of Haman to the sancta of leadership at the highest levels, the situation for the Jews of Megillat Esther grew increasingly dire. We should not be surprised that the European Jews in the Middle Ages found an image of themselves and their world in this story.
And, so, Purim resonated with these not-so-ancient ancestors in a way that was especially attuned to their situation. They felt constantly threatened by those in authority in their country and government. They did not feel ably protected by these authorities, and they took solace in (the story of) the defeat of a mighty foe. They also took solace in the raucous send-up of social and political convention that was Purim: It helped them imagine a different kind of world—a world in which the Jews (as we read at the end of the Megillah) were
hofreid_20_009_Hakol Newspaper_ads v2final.pdf 1 2/25/21 10:42 AM
deputized to defend themselves and prevail.
While all these reflections on Purim are interesting, you may be asking yourself why I would be writing about this spring holiday in the month of Cheshvan—at the very doorstep of Thanksgiving. The reason has to do with Chanukah. Sometimes as Jews we feel defensive that Chanukah does not receive the attention that another winter holiday receives in America. In fact, the kind of gift-giving that marks this season for many Jews in the United States actually does not even originate in Chanukah practices. Gift-giving is instead imported from the larger culture of Christmas that seems ever present around us this time of year. That larger culture in which we are embedded can feel overwhelming. And, as if to add insult to injury, Chanukah, as you may recall, is not even really that major a holiday. It is in fact a minor festival that arose relatively late in Jewish history.
If you are like me, there are times when you have felt caught between the “rock” that Chanukah can feel invisible and the “hard place” that
Chanukah should be such a smaller affair than Rosh HaShanah or Shavuot. When was the last time the bagger at the grocery story wished you a Moadim L’Simchah for Sukkot? But I bet some of us have had a “Happy Chanukah” from a stranger now and then. How is it that this tiny holiday suddenly looms as large as the Three Pilgrimage Festivals of Sukkot, Pesach, and Shavuot? (Large as Christmas?) It frustrates me how so much of our Jewish identity is built around how others celebrate and how others see (or don’t see) us. At times in my life, this has made me even feel guilty for the “big deal” that I allow for myself and my community around this minor holiday.
I felt a lot of these feelings for years, until coming across an insight about Purim. The “Hanukkah” volume of Ron Wolfson’s book series the Art of Jewish Living unravels something about Purim’s early practices that completely changed my view. Wolfson was writing about what we often refer to as “the December Dilemma”—that cocktail of interpersonal, spiritual, family, and community challenges faced by Jews as Christmas looms. He points out that when Jews were living oppressed in ghettos in the Middle Ages, Purim was actually a lot more popular than Chanukah. In other words, different holidays take on different meanings and resonances in different ages of our history.
Just as it was so relevant to look to the story of Esther and the Jews of Shushan as a mirror of the European Jews’ Medieval challenges, so, too, does it make a deep kind of sense that we, today, lift up Chanukah. The story of Chanukah is about Jews
responding to the challenges and temptations of assimilation. The Jews in this story had to ask themselves, “Who are we? How does the world around us see us? Can we reconcile these views? Should we? How much?” It is an understatement to say that Jews in contemporary America face the profound questions of assimilation and minority status.
The very fact of Christmas, which seems like a red herring to this conversation, is in fact exhibit A of the way many Jews encounter these challenges. Figuring out how we can be fully ourselves and fully a part of the society in which we live—these ageold questions reside deep in the story of Chanukah. And, we lift them up in our day because they help us see ourselves fully here and now. May the lights of the chanukiah, increasing each night of the festival, enlighten your own and all of our understandings of who we are and who we are called to be.
HAPPY CHANUKAH!
‘From the Top’
Across
1. Doughnut filling
4. “Man on the Moon” band
7. Nickname for Steve Rogers
10. Coolers, for short
13. ___ L’Tzedek
14. Muhammad whose grandson had a Bar Mitzvah
15. Latke liquid
16. Bulls in boxscores
17. Daniel survived one
18. When the 17th of Tammuz falls out some years
20. When squared, a kosher cracker
21. ___ Zemirot
23. Some calendars have two
24. It’s used to walk the dog?
25. Sefardic cousin of cholent
27. NYC airport
28. Aired Seinfeld say 29. Cooperative interactions
32. Location question (answered two ways in this puzzle) regarding the events alluded to by a dreidel
33. “___ shorts!” (Bart Simpson)
35. Hatzalah letters
37. Notable ancestor of the Maccabees
39. Emerald Isle
42. Screen that blips
45. Rugrats character that observes Chanukah
46. Company that collapsed in 2001
47. Mount Hermon has it, Masada does not
48. Certifies by oath
51. Flight stat.
52. Dimes and agorot, e.g.
54. Achilles’ victim in “The Iliad”
56. Fashion lines
58. Author ___ Stanley Gardner
59. It comes at the end of the year
62. Comedy duo that played
“Gefilta Fresh & Dr. Dreidel”, Key & ___
64. Made like General Nicanor fighting 1-Down
68. Ancestry
69. ___ ante (raise)
70. Jedi who saved the day in “The Mandalorian”
71. Former Prime Minister born “Mabovich”
72. Stiffly formal
73. Play dreidel
Down
1. A Maccabee
2. Sports venue
3. Notable agricultural sheva
4. Shofar provider
5. Oscar winner Kazan
6. Setting of the Maccabee rebellion, in modern day terms
7. Like the Maccabees
8. Suffers from a plague 9. Tissue layer
10. Adam Sandler, e.g. 11. Wife of Rabbi Menachem (Mendel)
12. A Maccabee
19. Hockey great Jaromir
22. It barely mentions the events of Chanukah
24. All-too-agreeable fellows
26. Famous Science Guy 28. Emeritus: Abbr.
30. Supporter of arms, for short
31. Actor McKellen who has played both a Nazi and a Holocaust survivor
34. Word before Shamayim or Hashem
35. Bana of Munich
36. ___ Hach
38. 1 or 66, abbr.
40. Caramel-filled chocolate candy
41. ___’acte (play break) 43. Narc’s org. 44. What Matisyahu felt when he rebelled 46. Donkey, in Berlin 49. “Time flies,” with “fugit” 50. Kind of movie glasses
53. 19-Down, e.g. 55. Human body’s 50,000,000,000,000 or so 57. YK month, often 58. K-12, in education
59. Tree that’s an anagram of comic legend Brooks 60. One can be told for “Shalom Bayit” reasons 61. College, to an Aussie 63. TLV posting 65. Kosher label with an extra caveat 66. Word with “jet” or “water” 67. Not including the shamashim, how many total candles that have been lit the fourth night of Chanukah
Stumped?
Find the answers at jewishlehighvalley.org/ hakol/crossword
TBE ChanuCan returns, building connections, filling needs
By Shari Spark Temple Beth El
The tzedakah energy returns to Temple Beth El December 8-15 with ChanuCan 2024. This is the seventh ChanuCan, a program that raises over 6 tons of food for community partners Jewish Family Service and Second Harvest of the Lehigh Valley. ChanuCan connects Beth El and the entire Jewish community, educating about food insecurity, the Jewish response to caring for those in need (tzedakah), and Chanukah’s theme of unity.
ChanuCan is more than a food drive; in fact, the aim is to raise funds to purchase
canned goods and other nonperishable foods that are then used to build amazing structures. The structures are designed and constructed by children and families of Beth El and represent a theme. This year’s theme is Tefillah Toons, all about the prayer experience.
The excitement “builds” starting on the first day, December 8, and continues throughout the week as students prepare for presentations and structure judging on grand finale day, December 15. Watching the amaze-
ment as the structures grow, feeling the enthusiasm of child and adult, student and volunteer, is the essence of ChanuCan. Especially moving is knowing the students are learning by doing and “can” see their acts of tzedakah.
ChanuCan is not limited to Temple Beth El members. The whole community is invited to donate resources. Visit bethelallentown.org to learn more about donating and volunteering.
Shuk to the Core
37 Israeli vendors to market handmade and
Temple Beth El will be transformed into a shuk with 37 Israeli vendors and their wares on December 9. The Israeli-style market will be open from 3 to 8 p.m., and the entire community is invited to shop and support our Israeli friends. All items for sale are made in Israel.
The event is presented in partnership with the
Jewish Federation and is endorsed by many other Jewish organizations in the Lehigh Valley and beyond. Everyone is mindful of the hardships these vendors are experiencing, with the war now into its second year, and of the importance of investing time and resources to assist them. Their economic difficulties are very real, especially as
Chanukah approaches.
Items such as handmade jewelry, artwork and home décor, books, Judaica, handbags, textiles, lifestyle products, and more will be available for purchase. Get your Chanukah list ready and shop the shuk!
There’s a nominal $5 entrance fee to this event.
“Uri and the King of Darkness,” by Nati Bait, illustrated by Carmel Ben Ami, translated from Hebrew by Ilana Kurshan, Kalaniot Books, 2024, 32 pages.
By Sean Boyle Jewish Day School Librarian
The English translation of Israeli author Nati Bait’s “Uri and the King of Darkness” is a rhyming tale about Uri and his sister Shir frantically waiting for their father to return home as darkness approaches on the first night of Chanukah.
Uri and Shir are waiting at home with their mother. Uri begins to get nervous and stares out the window, looking at the rain, and ponders what’s keeping his father. He wonders at first whether Father is delayed due to traffic or a flat. Even though his mother reassures him that
home, Uri’s thoughts, inspired by the Chanukah story, conjure up that his father is being delayed by trying to fight to save them from the evil King of Darkness. Uri and Shir decide that they too will be brave and will help Father fight off the foe, who is leading his spear-carrying army on top of his war elephant toward their window.
Along with the happy ending, there are portrayals of lighting the first Chanukah candle, the singing of songs, playing with dreidels, and eating fried foods. In the back matter, there is “The Hanukkah Story,” as well as the blessing said when lighting the candles. The blessings are in English, Hebrew, and a Hebrew transliteration.
Illustrator Carmel Ben Ami’s use of crayons and watercolor paint gives the impression of a story brought to life by a child with a vivid imagination. Each page features shades of blue of the approaching night, with the King of Darkness and his army contrasted with the brightness of lights in the windows of the buildings, Father’s flashlight, and, of course, the chanukkiahs in the windows.
The book is highly recommended for ages 3-120, especially for anyone who is sometimes afraid of the dark.
There is a free accompanying activity guide at the publisher’s website, kalaniotbooks.com.
Sean Boyle is librarian of the Jewish Day School and Congregation Keneseth Israel and serves as president of the Association of Jewish Libraries.
Latkes, Latkes, Latkes
A holiday favorite three different ways
Sweet Potato Latkes
By Andy Goldfarb
Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and grated
3 beaten eggs
1/2 onion, peeled and grated
1/2 cup matzo meal
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
Vegetable oil
Cinnamon sugar or sour cream
Technique
Mix together the first 6 ingredients and form 12 patties. Fry in hot oil for 4 minutes per side. Top with cinnamon sugar or sour cream and serve immediately.
Muffin Yam Latkes
By Lyelle Scherline
Ingredients
12-count muffin pan sprayed with cooking spray
12 teaspoons vegetable oil
3/4 pound yams, peeled and shredded
1 large onion, shredded 1/4 cup flour
1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon Diamond kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper Sour cream
Caramelized onions
Technique
Put 1 teaspoon of oil into each tin. Mix together all other ingredients. Divide evenly into the tins. Bake in a preheated 425-degree oven for 45 minutes. Loosen from the tins and let cool. Top with sour cream and caramelized onions and serve immediately.
Tofu Coconut Crisp Latkes
By Sandi Teplitz
Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and grated
3 beaten eggs
1/2 onion, peeled and grated
1/2 cup matzo meal
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
Vegetable oil
Cinnamon sugar or sour cream
Technique Mix together the first 6 ingredients and form 12 patties. Fry in hot oil for 4 minutes per side. Top with cinnamon sugar or sour cream and serve immediately.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2024 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Speakers from FamilyMatters
• Sufganiyot and desserts— dietary laws observed
• Gifts for FamilyMatters children
• Pledge to the 2025 Annual Campaign for Jewish Needs is required to attend
We are partnering with FamilyMatters, a Jewish Adoption and Family Care Options (JAFCO) Support Network that offers specialized case management and support services to assist families in times of crisis. Items needed are on an Amazon Wishlist (scan QR code below) and can be shipped directly to them. You can still participate if you cannot attend the event.
Director
