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NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS
Vol. LXVII No. 48 | 25 Kislev, 5774 November 28, 2013 | njjewishnews.com
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HanukkaGreetings 29
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HanukkaGreetings East Hanover Diner 275 Route 10 East, East Hanover, NJ (973) 884-8840 And visit our other location
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With the cornukiya, Edmon J. Rodman created a centerpiece suitable for a Thanksgivukka table. Photo courtesy Edmon J. Rodman
Wishing you a
Happy Hanukka
Affiliates in Gastroenterology, P.A. Diplomates American Board Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology Zalman R. Schrader, M.D. William C. Sloan, M.D. Lawrence B. Stein, M.D. Michael A. Samach, M.D. Carl B. Wallach, M.D. Robert W. Schuman, M.D. Ellen J. Rosen, M.D. Matthew P. Askin, M.D. John D. Morton, M.D. Lawrence S. Rosenthal, MD 101 Madison Ave, Suite 100 Morristown, NJ 07960 (973) 455-0404 Fax (973) 540-8788
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‘Pass the cranberry latkes’ When holidays collide Edmon J. Rodman JTA
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f the Pilgrims are lighting menoras and the Maccabees are chasing turkeys, it must be Thanksgivukka, as some have come to call the confluence of Thanksgiving and Hanukka this year on Nov. 28. Because the Jewish lunisolar (lunar with solar adjustments) calendar is very slowly getting out of sync with the solar calendar, the Hanukka-Thanksgiving confluence won’t happen again by one calculation until the year 79,811 — when turkeys presumably will be smart enough to read calendars and vacation in space that month. How do we celebrate this rare holiday alignment? Do we stick candles in the turkey and stuff the horns of plenty with gelt? Put payes on the Pilgrims? What about starting by wishing each other “gobble tov” and then changing the words to a favorite Hanukka melody: “I cooked a little turkey, Just like I’m Bobby Flay, And when it’s sliced and ready, I’ll fress the day away.” The holiday mash-up has its limits. We know the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade will not end with a float carrying a Maccabee. But it has created opportunities as well: Raise your hand if you plan to wait until the post-Thanksgiving Day sales for your Hanukka shopping. Ritually, just as we’ve figured out that we add candles to our menoras from right to left and light them
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from left to right, a new question looms this year: Should we slice the turkey before or after? For our household, the dreidel-wishbone overlap means that our son at college who always comes home for Thanksgiving will be home to light the family hanukkia, too. “I think it’s wonderful,” said Dr. Ron Wolfson, whose book Relational Judaism speaks to how our communal relationships — how we listen and welcome — can make our Jewish communities more meaningful. “This year is about bringing friends and family together.” Wolfson, also the author of The Hanukkah Family Guide to Spiritual Celebration, said in a recent interview that this year’s calendrical collision was a way to enhance Thanksgiving “beyond football and a big meal.” In our land of commercial plenty, the confluence certainly has served up a feast of merchandise. There are T-shirts saying “8 Days of Light, Liberty & Latkes” and a coffee mug picturing a turkey with nine burning tail feathers. And then there’s the ceramic menora in the shape of a turkey — a Menurkey, created by nine-year-old Asher Weintraub of New York. But being more of a do-it-yourselfer, I recycled an old sukka decoration to create my own Thanksgivukka centerpiece — the cornukiya. For the holiday cook trying to blend the two holidays’ flavors, there’s a recipe that calls for turkey brined in Manischewitz, and I found another for cranberry latkes. But See
Latkes page 38
HanukkaGreetings Nuclear Hanukka jewelry with peaceful intent Edmon J. Rodman JNS.org
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hile at the UN General Assembly and other public forums, Iran continues to tout what it calls the peaceful intentions of its nuclear program to a skeptical audience. But the peaceful intentions of another “nuclear program” — one that will come in handy for Jewish shoppers this Hanukka — are unquestioned. Using the words of the prophets as inspiration, a company called From War to Peace is turning swords into ploughshares — actually, recycled material from nukes into Jewish jewelry — in California. The line of peace-oriented products that includes flower power earrings, peace symbol pendants, tree of life bracelets, and household accessories is made from recycled copper cabling that once carried the launch codes to Minuteman III nuclear missiles. The copper, taken from a disarmed and deactivated Intercontinental Ballistic Missile site in Grand Forks, ND, is cast by the company into an array of wearable and usable symbols from many religions, including Star of David earrings, hamsa pendants, and mezuzahs. In time for Hanukka, a new menora pendant design will soon be available. From War to Peace’s work is available in stores nationwide, in Canada, online, and at the Clinton Presidential Library, the U.S. Holocaust Memo-
rial Museum in Washington, D.C., and The Jewish Museum in New York. “The Jewish prophets are the absolute inspiration for what we do,” said the organization’s founder, Paul Ogren, a former Minnesota state senator who lived in Israel in the A menora necklace by From War 1970s. into Peace, which uses recycled The truncated material from nukes for Jewish bible verse, “Turn jewelry. Photo courtesy From War into Peace your swords into plowshares, and you shall know war no more,” from both Isaiah and Micah, is featured prominently on the website of the company, which was launched in 2010. “The cabling is a good source of copper,” said Ogren, who first found out about the metal from a friend who had the scrap contract from the federal government for the silo’s metal and plastic. See
Jewelry page 39
Happy Hanukkah
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HanukkaGreetings
Happy Hanukka
For the younger people of the book Marvelous menoras, purple gorillas, and echoes of the 1960s Penny Schwartz JTA
Your Friends at
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gift-giving, angst-ridden purple gorilla is among the characters who help enliven Hanukka celebrations in new holiday books for children, families, and young adults. One, With a Mighty Hand, is not about Hanukka but will be a treasured gift to add to a family’s bookshelves. Tilda Balsley, the author of many children’s books, including four Jewish-themed Sesame Street titles about Grover, Big Bird, and friends, brings two new offerings, Eight is Great and ABC Hanukkah Hunt. Thank You For Me! is perfectly timed for the confluence this year of Hanukka and Thanksgiving. For young adults, award-winning writer Ruth Feldman in a coming-ofage novel spins an intricate tale of historical fiction and fantasy set in 1964 Berkeley, Calif., at the dawn of the city’s free speech movement. Here are the new titles for Hanukka:
Happy Hanukka Edward M. Decter, M.D. Andrew M. Hutter, M.D. Steven G. Robbins, M.D. Kevin J. Egan, M.D. Neil Kahanovitz, M.D. Matthew H. Zornitzer, M.D. David M. Loya, M.D. Vinay Chopra, M.D.
Eight is Great, by Tilda Balsley, illustrated by Hideko Takahashi (Kar-Ben). Ages one to four. Simple rhymes and illustrations enliven the colorful toddler board book that plays on the theme of the eight nights of Hanukka. Thank You For Me!, by Rick Recht, illustrated by Ann Koffsky (Jewish World Pub-
!ʧʔ ʮʒ ˈ ʔ ʢʔʧ HappyHappy Chanukah! Chanukah! Rabbi Matthew D. Gewirtz Cantor Howard M. Stahl Rabbi Rabbi Matthew Matthew D. A. Gewirtz Reimer Cantor Howard M. Stahl Cantor Norman Summers Rabbi R. Perolman Eric S. Karen Sellinger, President Rabbi Joshua M.Z. Stanton Maureen A. Spivack, President
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HanukkaGreetings
Wishing you and your family a Happy Hanukka!
Book from previous page lishing). Ages one to three. The illustrated lullaby, which can be read or sung, encourages young ones to appreciate themselves and all that surrounds them. A free download to Rick Recht’s companion song, “Kobi’s Lullaby,” and a link (www.annkoffsky.com) to a coloring page by illustrator Koffsky are included. ABC Hanukkah Hunt, by Tilda Balsley, illustrated by Helen Poole (Kar-Ben). Ages three to eight. A lively rhyming alphabet romp through Hanukka provides plenty of entertainment for young kids. Each large-format page is filled with cartoon-like illustrations and a simple riddle that can be solved by looking at the pictures of flames on a menora, a maze to Jerusalem’s Holy Temple, and plates full of sugar-coated doughnuts. Sadie’s Almost Marvelous Menorah, by Jamie Korngold, illustrated by Julie Fortenberry (Kar-Ben). Ages two to six. What preschooler won’t relate to young Sadie when her carefully crafted and painted clay menora shatters into a million pieces? Sadie’s spirits are lifted when she discovers that the shamash helper candle holder did not break. All’s well when
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Sadie uses the pink-and-blue shamash to light all the household menoras, starting a new family tradition. Fortenberry’s colorful illustrations allow kids to tell the story through the expressive and energetic art. The Eighth Menorah, by Lauren L. Wohl, illustrated by Laura Hughes (Albert Whitman). Ages four to seven. In this delightful story, a young boy named Sam makes a Hanukka menora in Hebrew school using a shiny rock he picks at a park outing. But he frets: What will his family do with one more menora? In phone conversations with his grandmother, Sam confides that he’s keeping a special Hanukka secret for the family. Their relationship feels authentic and warm. Readers will wonder along with Sam as he tries to figure out the perfect new home for the menora. Hughes’ illustrations convey a contemporary, real-world feel. Grandma lives in a condo in an urban high-rise, and there’s a refreshingly diverse
group of kids at Hebrew school. Rules for how to play dreidel are included. Esther’s Hanukkah Disaster, by Jane Sutton, illustrated by Andy Rowland (Kar-Ben). Ages four to nine. Poor Esther: The endearing purple gorilla is looking forward to celebrating Hanukka with her jungle friends, but all the gifts she selects turn out wrong. Worse, the friends give her the “perfect” Hanukka gifts. But Esther makes it all right at a Hanukka party where good friends celebrate together and swap the gifts. For young adults The Ninth Day, by Ruth Tenzer Feldman (Ooligan Press). Older teens and up. Hope Friis, the teen protagonist here, has an enviable relationship with her grandfather, who as his health declines gives Hope the gift of a tallit that
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Happy Chanukah. All our best wishes for peace, prosperity and good health.
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Book from previous page belonged to her grandmother, Miryam, for whom she is named. The blue threads woven into the tallit call forth a mysterious visitor, Serakh, who beckons Hope on a journey back in time to 11-th century Paris, where she is challenged to save the life of a Jewish baby. The mature material, which includes references to LSD and tragic Jewish history during the Crusades, is not overly dark or depressing. Through curiosity and courage Hope, who has a stutter, finds her own voice as she faces tough, consequential decisions. The book takes place during the eight days of Hanukka, which that year fell very close to Thanksgiving, as it does this year.
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Great for a gift With a Mighty Hand: The Story in the Torah, adapted by Amy Ehrlich, paintings by Daniel Nevins (Candlewick). All ages. Readers of any age will savor the beautifully designed With a Mighty Hand, Ehrlich’s adaptation of the five books of the Torah with stunning art by Daniel Nevins. Based on the original biblical text, Ehrlich approaches the Torah’s stories as a lyrical narrative. She includes the nuanced details and weaves a story line that brings the characters to life as humans, with strengths and flaws. Nevins’ illustrations draw from a rich palette of purple, red, brown, blue, and ocher. In a full-page illustration of one of Joseph’s dreams, a copper-skinned Joseph stands tall and regal in his multicolored coat looming above the stars and moon. A two-page Torah genealogy, Ehrlich’s introduction and end notes offer readers helpful explanations to supplement the narrative. n
Wishing you and your family a happy Hanukkah.
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HanukkaGreetings Latkes from page 32 what about a replacement for the now infamous Frankenstein of Thanksgiving cuisine, the turducken? How about a “turchitke,” a latke inside of a chicken inside of a turkey? For Wolfson, who has largely ignored the merch and wordplay, this year simply is an opportunity to change the script. At his Thanksgiving dinner, he is going combine Hanukka ritual with holiday elements found on FreedomsFeast.us, a website that uses American holidays to pass on “stories, values, and behaviors.” Searching the site, I found a “Thanksgiving Service for Interfaith Gatherings” by Rabbi Jack Moline that includes a reading that also could work for Hanukka — a holiday of religious freedom — as it celebrates many of the occupations that “we can do when we are free,” including activists, writers, artists, entrepreneurs, even journalists. For our own celebrations Wolfson, a Fingerhut professor of education at American Jewish Uni-
versity, wants us to consider the similarities of the stories at the heart of each holiday. “The Pilgrims were escaping religious persecution in Europe. They did not want to be assimilated,” Wolfson said, adding that “the Maccabees were fighting against Hellenization,” another form of assimilation. Counter to the usual “December dilemma” for the intermarried, Wolfson noted the “opportunities and challenges” presented this year by Hanukka and Christmas not coinciding. “We usually feel the tension between the two holidays,” he said. “This year we can feel the compatibility of the two.” The early Hanukka will help people to appreciate its “cultural integrity,” said Wolfson, adding that he “would not be surprised by a spike in candle lighting this year.” But for others in the Jewish community, the pushing together of the Festival of Lights with Tur-
key Day has forced other changes, some unwanted. Rabbi Steven Silver of Temple Menorah in Redondo Beach, Calif., is canceling his temple’s traditional Friday night Hanukka dinner. “That holiday weekend will be vacation time, people will be out visiting family and friends,” he said. “The rabbis won’t have anyone in front of them that weekend, and that’s a problem.” Yet Silver also found the confluence has presented an opportunity. The day before Hanukka, his congregation is planning to attend an interfaith Thanksgiving service at a Catholic church. “There will be between 800 and 900 in attendance, from Buddhists to Sikhs, and three Jewish congregations,” Silver said. “We are planning to bring a six-foot-high wooden menora and symbolically light it.” The holidays overlapping, he said, “is giving us n an opportunity to show the miracle.”
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HanukkaGreetings Jewelry from page 33 Ogren said he bought 10,000 pounds of copper, but initially was not sure what he would do with it. “I’m always looking for a transformational element,” said Ogren, who recalled that hearing a niece singing a Hebrew song, “Lo Yisa Goy El Goy Cherev,” (“Nation shall not lift up sword against nation”), put him on the path to making jewelry. “Weapons that kill people can be used for constructive means,” Ogren, a peace activist during the Vietnam War, said. After discovering that copper needed to be alloyed to be cast successfully as jewelry, Ogren decided on a mixture that included manganese and silicon to create a “Peace Bronze,” which is cast into various shapes in Albuquerque, NM, and Paso Robles, Calif. Various styles are given an iridescent finish in San Luis Obispo, Calif., or dipped in silver or gold in Albuquerque. One of the mezuza designs is cast with the words “Peace to all who enter here.” Other styles feature the word “peace” in three languages — Hebrew, English, and Arabic — or an image of a dove. “There is a naïve quality to them, like American folk art,” said Nestor Diaz de Villegas, who owns one of the mezuzot as well as a pendant. “That they are made of metal from nuclear weapons is really amazing,” added Diaz de Villegas, who is a poet and a journalist. “We do museum grade castings, using the lost wax process” said Ogren, whose company also uses its Peace Bronze in casting the Gandhi Peace Prize as well as the Sean MacBride Peace Prize, awarded by the Geneva-based International Peace Bureau. Ogren said 24 percent of the company’s profits are dedicated to peace and social justice organizations, with current recipients including Veterans for Peace, Homeboy Industries, and Mothers for Peace. Seeing a benefit in injecting “humor and lightness” into the messages of his work, Ogren also creates beer bottle openers which say “Beers Not Bombs,” and wine bottle stoppers which say, “Make Wine Not War,” out of the Peace Bronze. Just how hot is Ogren’s nuke-related jewelry? The cabling was buried six feet underground, has been tested, and is not radioactive. “I get asked, ‘Will I glow in the dark if I wear your jewelry?’” Ogren said. “I would have to charge you more,” he said he often responds. n
Happy Chanukah!
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