Happy Hanukkah
Happy Hanukkah
NO ONE SAVES MORE LIVES IN ISRAEL IN TIMES OF CRISIS. Dear Readers,
Like all Jewish holidays, Hanukkah moves around on our daily calendar, though it stays the same on the Jewish calendar, beginning on the evening of 24 Kislev.
Sometimes, that movement sparks additional holiday fun. Remember in 2013 when Hanukkah fell on Thanksgiving, creating Thanksgivukkah? That convergence shouldn’t happen again until 2070.
The lighting of this year’s first candle will take place on Dec. 25 at nightfall, which means the holiday begins as Christmas Day is winding down, and will extend into 2025, with the eighth candle on Jan. 1. Always a festive holiday, it should be double-so this year!
The holiday’s almost tardy appearance this year has resulted in some Hanukkah celebrations already over, but plenty are still to come. A listing of area events can be found on page 31. And, a look at Frozen Flames, one celebration that took place earlier this month, is on page 24.
One of the many fun aspects of the Festival of Lights is playing with and admiring dreidels, those spinning tops integral to a gambling game traditionally played on Hanukkah. Fashioned from just about every material imaginable, many people have multiple dreidels. Wendy Auerbach, Ilene Goldman, and Jamie Alpern share their collections beginning on the next page.
While most associate the lights of Hanukkah with the nine candles of a hanukkiah, that’s not how the observation began. Rabbi Michael Panitz writes about the original oil lamps and how the holiday’s ritual of lights has evolved. See a couple from his and Mark Solberg’s collection on page 30.
This Chanukah, there are many ways to support Israel and its people, but none is more transformative than a gift to Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency medical system. Your gift to MDA isn’t just changing lives — it’s literally saving them — providing critical care and hospital transport for everyone from victims of heart attacks to casualties of rocket attacks. Join the effort at MagenDavidAdom.org or call 866.632.2763.
Hanukkah books for children, a cool funnel cake recipe, how to bring Hanukkah to classrooms, a unique gift idea, and more comprise the many articles in this section. And, of course, if you’re searching where to purchase a gift, where to dine, or where to make an end-of-year donation, please check out the advertisers within these pages.
All of us at Jewish News wish you a Hanukkah filled with light – from love, laughter, and blessings – and a happy and healthy entrance into 2025!
Chag Hannukah Sameach,
Terri Denison Editor
Happy Hanukkah
“Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay…” (and
Stephanie Peck and Terri Denison
glass…and paper…and felt…)
The center piece of a Jewish gambling game, dreidels are almost as important to Hanukkah as Hanukkiahs and latkes. Each of the four sides of the spinning top contain a specific letter: Nun, Gimel, Hei, Shin (or Po if in Israel). The letters represent the phrase: A great
Jamie Alperin
Twenty-four-year-old Jamie Alperin, a Tidewater native currently studying for her Psy. D. in clinical psychology, has amassed a dreidel collection beyond her years.
Started by her maternal grandfather when she was five years old, Alperin’s collection stands at 32 dreidels, often receiving more than one per year from her Florida-based grandparent.
James Jacobson decided it would be fun to start collections for both of his granddaughters when they were young. For older sister, Jenna Alperin, he gifted menorahs.
miracle happened there (or ‘here’, if in Israel) and dictate how the game is played, with players winning or losing, depending on how the top lands after its spin.
Found in all sizes and colors, dreidels are made from the most mundane of materials to the most glamorous – from plastic to jewels – and are
Jamie’s dreidels have been purchased from Judaica stores and other shops where Jacobson found the spinning tops. A few in her collection are made from clay, “painted and man-made by my child hands,” Alperin says.
Her favorite? A menorah-dreidel made of glass. “It makes me feel closer to my sister.”
designed to either be played with or showcased as art. With so many possibilities, there’s no wonder that collections of this classic Hanukkah toy abound. Here, Wendy Auerbach, Ilene Goldman, and Jamie Alpern share a bit about their collections.
Ilene Goldman
When Ilene Goldman married her husband, Dean, her parents gave the newlyweds a Hanukkah menorah as a wedding present. Ever since, Goldman has received dreidels and menorahs as gifts, regardless of the occasion. “I guess I’m a hard person to shop for!” she laughs.
Each Hanukkah season, Goldman displays the dreidels and menorahs on her dining room table and makes a big spread. In the collection are roughly 10 dreidels and eight menorahs. Many of these works are not run-of-the-mill Judaica; instead, these high-end selections are made from crystal or other artistic creations. She favors two cut-glass crystal dreidels that she purchased for herself.
When her children were young students at Norfolk Collegiate School, Goldman was the mom who came in for Hanukkah. She purchased small, easy-to-spin, wooden dreidels on Amazon and taught the classes how to play dreidel games. Goldman also brought gelt candy and showed these youngsters how to bet. At the end of the game, this doctor mom threw away the gelt that had been handled by children with colds and other winter crud, and instead sent each student home with a bag of untouched chocolate.
“It started in kindergarten, but the kids wanted me to come through fifth grade. I read the same Hanukkah book to the class for six years in a row!”
Jamie Alperin.
Happy Hanukkah
Wendy Juren Auerbach
Wendy Auerbach’s dreidel collection, a Maccabean army of 78 spinning tops, started by chance. “I love Hanukkah, and these portable, functional works of art make them fascinating to me. I like that something can be interpreted in so many ways.”
Auerbach’s collection includes dreidels made from various materials, including felt and other fibers, as well as glass and metal. “A few are from my mother, because she knew I was collecting them.”
While most dreidels in Auerbach’s cabinet have been purchased, she has crafted some herself, including an oversized, paper mâché object that she painted, and a dreidel she crocheted from old t-shirts. She considers several standouts in the collection, dreidels made from unusual materials or different shapes, but she is partial to those made from common objects, such as Legos, wood, paper, and nuts and bolts. “I even have one made from leather, which is from the Jewish Museum in New York.”
Auerbach says that most of her dreidels spin, and they all contain the four letters on the sides. Several dreidels in this vast collection come from Israel, where one of the letters differs. Instead of the common “nun, gimmel, hei, shin,” (a great miracle happened there), a dreidel from Israel ends with a “pe” (a great miracle happened here).
Wendy Juren Auerbach.
Drought in NYC could put a damper on public Hanukkah menorah lightings Happy Hanukkah
Jackie Hajdenberg
(New York Jewish Week) — As drought conditions continue to put New York City at an elevated risk of fire, Rabbi Shimon Hecht needs a Hanukkah miracle.
Hecht, who leads Chabad of Park Slope, oversees the annual illumination of a massive, 32-foot-tall menorah at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza, just outside the main entrance to Prospect Park. Since 1984, the kerosene lantern menorah has been lit each of the eight nights of Hanukkah, which this year begins on the evening of Dec. 25.
That four-decade tradition could now be snuffed out. A drought watch escalated into a drought warning in late November, putting public menorah lightings at risk of being canceled. On Nov. 20, the mayor’s office, plus the city’s fire and parks departments, announced the cancellation of already-issued permits for fireworks displays and open flames across the entire city indefinitely. The three offices also announced the suspension of new permits for open flames — meaning that,
in addition to New Year’s Eve fireworks, public menorah lightings like Hecht’s may be canceled.
The FDNY will review previously issued permits for activities in city streets or over water on a “case-by-case basis” to determine alternatives, the mayor’s office said in the Nov. 20 email announcing the change.
“While the drought guidelines are in effect, no displays with open flames, including menorahs, will be allowed in parks,” a representative from the NYC Parks Department told the New York Jewish Week. “If organizers had previously been issued a permit for open flame displays, we are asking them to develop a contingency plan (for example replacing the flame with electric lights).”
Hecht is still hoping that the city won’t let the light go out.
Many menorahs put up by Chabad houses around the city use light bulbs rather than real flames — such as those of Chabad at Sutton Place and Chabad of Harlem — and will not be impacted by fire restrictions. But the Park Slope
menorah — which was known, until 2016 at least, as “the world’s largest menorah” — uses flames ensconced in old-fashioned kerosene lanterns. (Chabad of the West Village uses a similar kerosene lantern and flame setup for their menorah.)
“We don’t believe that our menorah poses any type of fire risk whatsoever,” Hecht says. “The fire itself is not just an open flame. It’s in a kerosene lantern, it’s protected. And as well as it’s not directly in the park, it’s outside the park. We’ve been doing it for the last 40 years, thank God, without any incidents and concerns.”
Chabad of Park Slope’s menorah
lightings typically draw a few hundred people each night over the course of the eight-night holiday and the celebrations often include live music, hot chocolate, latkes, and more.
The drought warning is still in effect. Despite the small amount of rain earlier this month, New York City’s seven reservoirs are averaging far below the normal 82% fill mark for this time of year.
As of press time, at least two other events, both on New Year’s Eve, have been canceled or reimagined for this year due to the drought.
Happy Hanukkah
Frozen Flames proves to be an early hot Hanukkah night
Elana McGovern
More than 150 members of the 21-and-over Tidewater Jewish community and beyond gathered for Frozen Flames, a celebration of heritage, community, and inspiration on Saturday, Dec. 7. Held at the new Perry Glass Studio at the Chrysler Museum of Art, the event was a testament to the power of community and the enduring flame of Jewish identity.
The evening began with Havdalah, marking the close of Shabbat and setting the tone for an unforgettable night.
Attendees were treated to live glassblowing demonstrations as a glass menorah was crafted. Guests spun dreidels, reconnected with old friends, made new ones, enjoyed kosher food and drinks, and danced the night away to the beats of DJ Carneyval – all the elements creating an energy that kept the crowd buzzing.
The event drew a diverse crowd that included newcomers, lifelong residents, and those who traveled back to the area to reconnect with their Jewish Tidewater roots. Adding to it’s
inclusivity, people from every part of Tidewater’s Jewish community could be found together at this special celebration.
“Now more than ever, it’s important for us to come together and rediscover why being Jewish matters,” says Sam Dreyfus, the event’s organizer. “Our community has the potential to be vibrant—not just a source of strength and connection for us, but a meaningful asset for the broader Hampton Roads region.”
The night wasn’t just about a Hanukkah celebration—it was a movement to strengthen bonds and reignite the spark of Jewish life in Hampton Roads. As attendees departed, many were already looking forward to the next gathering – Purim.
Frozen Flames reminded everyone that Jewish Tidewater is poised to shine brighter than ever.
Elana McGovern is United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Young Adult Division director.
Glass demonstration.
Ellie Kaufman and Paul Dragan.
: Charlotte and Ari Zito, Kathryn Sinclair Fenter, and David Sinclair. Aly Yaary and Bo Lepchitz.
Sam Dreyfus and Jessica Strelitz
Party guests.
Jared and Lauren Konikoff, Jacob Konikoff, and Josh Konikoff. Party crowd.
Samantha Legendre-Mendivil, Emily Krouse, and Joshua Krouse.
Anna Fox Burnette, Brooke Wilson, Gabi Kocerha, Pati Oliszweski, Jackie Dratch, and Courtney Freundich.
Jordan Simon, Marissa Simon, Eli Kaplan, Mark Gamsey, Claire Laibstain, and Villey Tidwaell.
Becca Barr, Jolyn Gontis, Jake Glasser, Jess Glasser, and Rachel and Aviv Faraj.
Hanukkah
B e A R e a d e r
B B Y O Y o u n g A d u l t p r o g r a m s
J C C S u m m e r C a m p
H o n o r s o m e o n e y o u l o v e w i t h a
t r i b u t e i n s u p p o r t o f t h e i r f a v o r i t e
J e w i s h c o m m u n i t y p r o g r a m s !
J C C C h i d r e n + F a m y p r o g r a m s
J C C M a c c a b i
J e w i s h C o m m u n i t y R e l a t i o n s C o u n c i l I s r a e T o d a y p r o g r a m m i n g F r i e n d s o f t h e J e w i s h N e w s J C C P a t r o n o f t h e A r t s J e w i s h L i f e + L e a r n n g P r o g r a m s J C C A d u t p r o g r a m m i n g
T r i b u t e s a r e w e l c o m e i n a n y d o l l a r a m o u n t A n d s i n c e t h e y b e n e f i t t h e p r o g r a m s w h i c h m a k e u s t h e v i b r a n t a n d a m a z i n g J e w i s h c o m m u n i t y t h a t w e a r e
t h e y ’ r e a n e s p e c i a l l y m e a n i n g f u l w a y t o h o n o r a n d r e m e m b e r y o u r f r i e n d s a n d l o v e d o n e s .
T o m a k e a t r i b u t e , c o n t a c t P a t t y M a l o n e a t U J F T a t 7 5 7 - 9 6 5 - 6 1 1 5 o r p m a l o n e @ u j f t . o r g , o r v i s i t J e w i s h V A o r g / D o n a t e .
I f m a k i n g a t r i b u t e o n l i n e , a d d t o c o m m e n t b o x : T H I S I S A T R I B
Happy Hanukkah
New children’s books for Hanukkah channel 2024’s unusual Christmas convergence
Penny Schwartz (JTA) — To celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas, Max and Sophie, siblings in an interfaith family, bake up a batch of gingerbread dreidels.
That’s the plot of a new children’s book out this year, but it could be a real-life occurrence this month, when the first night of Hanukkah falls on Christmas Day. Among the children’s books released ahead of the holidays are several that nod to the unusual calendar convergence and the increasing share of families that include both Jews and people who are not Jewish.
Other notable new Hanukkah children’s books include one about a unique menorah used at the White House; a compendium of stories and essays for older kids; and picture books featuring a bear, a puppy and a dragon.
Here’s a rundown of the new books on the Hanukkah market in 2024.
Gingerbread Dreidels
Jane Breskin Zalben; illustrated by Thai My Phuong Charlesbridge; ages 4-7
In Jane Zalben’s new book, Max and Sophie are excited for the start of Hanukkah and Christmas Eve, which both begin the next day. The siblings are growing up in an interfaith family and celebrate both holidays with all their grandparents. They bake up a batch of gingerbread dreidels – a blend of each holiday’s traditions. When their grandparents arrive the next morning, they welcome Hanukkah and Christmas with latkes, pudding and holiday stories. My Phuong’s illustrations capture the kids’ joy and the book includes a recipe and instructions for readers to make their own gingerbread dreidels.
Let It Glow
Marissa Meyer and Joanne Levy Feiwel and Friends; ages 8-12
When two 12-year-old girls, each adopted at birth, meet by chance, they discover that they are identical twins. Aviva Davis, a vivacious Broadway hopeful, is growing up in an interfaith, interracial family and loves to hang out with her Jewish Bubbe. Holly Martin, who is Christian and lives with her mother and grandfather, is a more reserved book nerd. In this coming-of-age story, told in the twins’ alternating voices, the sisters secretly switch places at home just in time for Hanukkah and Christmas. When their mischievous scheme goes too far, Aviva and Holly argue. A family health scare draws the two unsuspecting families together in this Chrismukkah Parent Trap mashup, and Aviva and Holly realize the resilience of family bonds and gain a deeper meaning of their faiths.
Happy Hanukkah
Oy, Santa!: Or, There’s a Latke to Learn about Hanukkah
Joyce Schriebman; illustrated by Gila von Meissner Intergalactic Afikoman; ages 4-9
In Joyce Schriebman’s humorous story, Oliver Overstreet hits send on an email to Santa to let the jolly North Pole giftgiver know that he is Jewish, and that Santa and his reindeer can skip his chimney. As the pages unfold, Oliver sets Santa straight, to make sure he knows the difference between Hanukkah and Christmas and that Santa should never eat potato latkes with ketchup.
My Dreidel
Ann Diament Koffsky
Apples & Honey Press; ages birth to 1
Young ones will relate to the child-like pup in Ann Koffsky’s cheerful board book when she tries to spin the Hanukkah dreidel with her paws. Her older brother helps out as they spin and dance till they plop like the dreidel.
Don’t Invite a Bear Inside for Hanukkah
Karen Rostoker-Gruber; illustrated by Carles Arbat Apples & Honey Press; ages 3-6
There’s mayhem in this laugh-out-loud story when a young boy invites a Jewish bear into his house for his family’s Hanukkah celebration. But when the fun turns messy, the boy asks his new friend to leave, a decision he instantly regrets after he realizes the bear is sad. All ends well when the thoughtful boy invites the bear back to celebrate together — outside.
Uri and the King of Darkness: A Hanukkah Story
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Nati Bait; illustrated by Carmel Ben Ami; translated by Ilan Kurshan Kalaniot Books; ages 4-9
As Hanukkah is about to begin, Uri and his sister Shir worry about their father when he is late coming home from work. Uri is frightened by a dark evening shadow cast from outside his window. He musters his courage, and with Shir, they fend off the imagined monster, waving his toy shield and Shir’s child umbrella. When their father arrives home bearing a boxful of sufganiyot, the fried jelly donuts enjoyed at Hanukkah, the family lights the menorah, with a more confident Uri, knowing he can draw on Hanukkah’s power of light to vanquish his fears.
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Happy Hanukkah
The best Hanukkah gift won’t actually cost you anything
For a truly special and personal present, allow me to introduce you to the curated list.
This story originally appeared on Hey Alma. My 77-year-old mother does not like stuff. She abhors clutter. She reuses everything. If you were to buy her a bottle of nice olive oil as a hostess gift, it would sit unopened in her pantry for the next 20 to 40 years. When I ask what she wants for Hanukkah, the answer is always the same: nothing.
But last December, my mother came to me with a specific request: She wanted eight lists of cultural recommendations, one per night. It turned out to be the best present I’ve ever given her.
The eight categories I selected were books, movies, TV shows, podcasts, musical albums, recipes, websites, and longform articles. I listed eight items per category, and I annotated them, explaining why I thought my mom might like each one.
This project required a deep dive into my own consumption habits — for example, I read plenty of longform articles, but I don’t have a system for tracking them. I vaguely recalled reading a piece about bagel vendors once taking on the mafia, but who wrote it, and for what publication? (The answer turned out to be Jason Turbow, for New York Magazine.)
female comedians? I hadn’t seen that one yet, but trusted sources (aka my friend Sarah who watches a lot of TV) had vouched for it. I ended up including all three of those on the TV list. Only Murders was the big winner for my mom. Broad City, on the other hand, did not make the cut — I’d absolutely adored it, but ultimately I decided not to include it on my mom’s TV list; I thought the humor might be “too millennial” for her.
More importantly, these eight nights of lists made me think carefully about my mother. What does she like? What media had she already consumed? How did she feel about it?
I didn’t want to recommend The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel to her because I knew she’d already watched it. What else was like that? Maybe Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, another witty comedy starring a Jewish female lead, which I had loved? Maybe Only Murders in the Building, which also has a great old-school Manhattan vibe? I had felt so-so about that show when I watched it, but I could imagine my mom liking it more. Maybe Hacks, which is also about
I realized in doing this project that I could make eight lists for anyone in my life, and they would all be different. The point of gift-giving isn’t just to give your loved ones stuff that you like. If it were, Hanukkah would be easy — I’d just buy everyone eight nights of single-origin chocolates and be done with it. The point is to give people stuff you like that you have reason to believe they will also like. At their very best, gifts feel personal: I am the only person who would have gotten this for you, and you are the only person I would have gotten it for.
That’s a high standard to maintain for every gift. If you need to find something for all your colleagues or cousins,
it’s reasonable to get them some nice soaps on the theory that most people, sooner or later, will wash their hands. But for those few special people where you want to get them something truly personal, I maintain that curated lists are one of the best options. A personalized list of recommendations says: I pay attention to you. I notice what you do and don’t like. I respect your preferences. I have taken the time to look at this piece of media through your eyes. I am happy to work within the overlap between you and me, the segment of Venn diagram where our tastes align.
At a time when more and more people want intangible media or experiences, giving a list can be far better than giving a physical item. If you try this out for your own loved ones, feel free to use the eight categories that I gave to my mom, or create others more suited to the recipient: mobile games to play, cities to visit, local restaurants to eat at… the list for potential lists is endless.
My mother has spent the past 12 months happily working her way through her lists. She still has plenty of untouched items (figuring out how to listen to podcasts has proved elusive), but she always tells me when she engages with something I recommended. She wound up liking The Good Place, once she figured out how to watch the episodes in order rather than at random. (Don’t ask.) And she loved the Moosewood Baked Tofu recipe.
She has shared her eight lists with her friends, and she tells me that they now all think she’s an extremely cool, finger-on-the-pulse sort of person. “They’ve never even heard of Haim,” my mother tells me with deep satisfaction, referring to one of the recommendations on the music list.
As Hanukkah approaches once again, I asked my mom what she wants this year. “I don’t want anything,” she said, like always. “Just add to my lists.”
Leila Sales
Happy Hanukkah
A Jewish couple created a disco-ball menorah to mark this year’s HanukkahNew Year’s overlap
Jackie Hajdenberg (JTA) — In 2013, there was the “Menurkey,” a turkey-shaped menorah, for the highly unusual overlap of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah.
Now, 11 years later, a new holidaymashup menorah is making its appearance. The Happy Jew Year hanukkiah features a spinning disco ball to mark the rare overlap between Hanukkah and New Year’s.
The menorah is the brainchild of Justin and Michelle Esgar, a New Jersey couple who have made a habit of throwing schticky Hanukkah celebrations complete with holiday staples like jelly doughnuts and latkes, tailored to an annual theme.
Esgars created a make-your-own ramen station and Japanese sweet potato latkes. Their local sushi place arranged the rolls in the shape of a menorah.
Now, they’re trying to bring their festive spirit to the masses from their home base in Jersey City.
“When we realized that Hanukkah this year was going to be over New Year’s, I was like, ‘There’s something there we can do,’” Justin Esgar says. “So, then we came up with the idea of ‘Happy Jew Year,’ and then this menorah concept where it’s representative of the New Year’s Eve ball drop from New York City.”
Back to the Hanukkah riffed on the movie Back to the Future. Alo-Hanukkah featured deep-fried King’s Hawaiian rolls. My Big Fat Greek Hanukkah took things back to the nation whose ancient forebears are traditionally depicted as the Hanukkah story’s antagonist. For Japan-ukkah, the
Hanukkah merchandise offerings have exploded in recent years, as corporations have realized the size of the marketplace created by an eightday celebration occurring during the winter holiday season in a society where more and more families include people of multiple faiths. The idea of “Chrismukkah” — another meeting of two holidays that is also occurring this year — is a mainstay of popular hibernal discourse. But new products for calendar quirks such as the New Year’s overlap during an unusually late Hanukkah have often been the province of cottage creators who can devote themselves to a single item.
New Year’s is usually not a prime
time for Judaica mashups, according to Rabbi Yael Buechler, a creator and self-appointed watchdog of mass-market Jewish products who scours big-box stores’ Hanukkah offerings.
“New Years is a time when more families are away or just returning from vacation. The grownups might have plans, but they are not as synced with kid-based experiences,” she wrote in an email. “I would have loved to see some sparkly NYE/Hanukkah headbands. Maybe they’ll surprise us with a crystal dreidel atop Times Square!”
The Esgars’ menorah is nickel-plated and made by hand. It’s priced at $54 — three times $18, a number that signifies life in Jewish tradition.
Happy Jew Year wasn’t the Esgars’ fi rst idea. They initially considered marking the occasion with sparkler
— but learned that
have to burn for at least 30 minutes to be considered kosher.
“Nobody wants a sparkler in their house going off for a half hour,” Esgar says. “That’s a fire hazard.”
Then their thoughts turned to Asher Weintraub, the 10-year-old who invented and marketed the 2013 Thanksgiving menorah. “It was a kid who made the menurkey,” Esgar says. “We were kind of thinking about that when we were coming up with this idea.”
While the Menurkey was effectively a single-use object for most buyers — Thanksgivukkah will not happen again until 2070, nearly six decades after the last occurrence — the Happy Jew Year menorah will soon be relevant again. Hanukkah will overlap with New Year’s Eve again in 2027, 2035, and 2043.
VIRGINIA BEACH: HILLTOP EAST NORFOLK: THE PALACE SHOPS
candles
Hanukkah candles
Screenshot of Michelle and Justin Esgar’s Happy Jew Year hanukkiah.
Happy Hanukkah
The Sacred Lights of Chanukah
Rabbi Israel Zoberman
The fragile yet formidable Chanukah candles
We tenderly lit, daringly defy the suffocating Darkness around us and in us, Soothing and softening, we pray, all who Their magic of evoked memories of elation
And trepidation with oil – dripping levivot (Potato pancakes) for expectant levavot (Hearts) while partaking of sustaining sweet Sufganiyot (donuts) to counteract the bitterness Of previous and following defeats, Celebrating a temporary victory before the Hasmonians’ intra-feuds hastened the demise Of short-lived Jewish sovereignty with warning Lessons for the contemporary scene of mounting Extremism and spreading strife, With hostages in death-filled Gaza darkness
Still-second Chanukah’s Festival of Lights
In captivity, how tragically ironic!- desperately Yearning for a light lagging too long
Behind and may not come, and for too many Their wondrous light already snuffed out by Those adoring the dark with the candle of each Unique life burning down before its time and Forever lost is that consecrated inner oil, Though only we possess the priestly power
To extinguish the bright Chanukia (menorah) Embedded deep within us.
Rabbi Dr. Israel Bobrov Zoberman is the founder of Temple Lev Tikvah and Honorary Senior Rabbi Scholar at Eastern Shore Chapel Episcopal Church,
Happy Hanukkah
Iraqi funnel cake is everything you need this Hanukkah Soakedinfragrantsyrupandwrappedinnostalgia.
Joanna Nissim
This story originally appeared on The Nosher.
The thing that I love about Jewish food is that across our wonderful and diverse communities, we often eat pretty much the same dishes, with slight variations in name, fl avor, and technique. For example, the typical Iraqi Hanukkah sweet zalabia — a delicious fried, yeasted funnel cake soaked in a sticky and intensely sweet syrup — is essentially the same as Syrian zalabiah (although theirs is a different shape) and Indian jalebi, both also eaten on Hanukkah.
This makes perfect sense, as Jews who originated from Spain spread across the world after the Inquisition, taking their recipes with them across the Middle East. There are documented recipes for zalabia in a 10th-century Arabic cookbook, which was originally made by pouring the batter through a coconut shell. The recipes were slightly adapted according to their new surroundings, including zalabia. Indian Jews, for instance, use ghee and turmeric, two very common ingredients in Indian cooking; Syrian Jews use orange blossom water as the main flavor of their syrup for similar reasons.
Our family makes Iraqi zalabia, and very little has changed through the ages. I love the nostalgia that Hanukkah holds for so many of us; the memories of watching parents and grandparents frying treats — be they zalabia, sfenj, latkes, or any of the other delicacies Jews enjoy at this time of year — waiting for the chance to taste them.
This year, my five-year-old son stands next to me as I fry the zalabia — he is responsible for dunking them into the syrup, licking his sugary fingers as he goes, I’m sure, and admiring his handy work at the end.
In these troubled times, it brings me reassurance to think of the culinary traditions that have stood the test of time, through wars and atrocities. I am comforted that, like the Hanukkah story itself, we will come out the other side victorious — perhaps with a new festival or culinary traditions to celebrate the time in 2023 when Hamas attempted, and failed, to slay the Jewish people.
Note
• You will need: a kitchen funnel and a squeezy bottle with a nozzle top.
Zalabia Recipe
Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
Yield: 30
Ingredients
For the batter:
• 2 tsp dried yeast
• 2 cups warm water, divided
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 cups plain flour
• neutral oil, enough oil to fill a pan, 4-5 inches deep
For the syrup:
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
1. Start by making the batter. Mix the yeast, 1 cup warm water, sugar and salt, and leave for 15 minutes until it foams on top.
2. Add 2 cups flour and the remaining 1 cup water to the yeast mixture and mix well.
3. Leave in a warm place for 2 hours until the mixture is bubbling and smells yeasty.
4. While the mixture is fermenting, make the syrup: Mix the sugar and water together in a pan and bring to the boil. Once boiled, let it simmer until it thickens for approximately 7-8 minutes and coats the back of a spoon. Turn it off the heat and let it cool down while you finish the zalabia.
5. Once the zalabia batter is ready and has bubbled, using a kitchen funnel, pour the mixture into a squeezy bottle with nozzle top.
6. Heat the oil until it is shimmering. Once it shimmers, squeeze the mixture from the squeezy bottle into the hot oil creating a spiral shape, approximately 3 inches wide. Do not overcrowd the pan while frying, as the zalabia will turn soggy.
7. Once the zalabia puff up and slightly change color, flip them over. Cook for another few minutes, when they begin to firm up and become slightly golden. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.
8. While still warm, take each zalabia and drop into the warm syrup quickly, but ensuring the fritter is completely coated. Remove with a fork, shaking off the excess syrup. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Happy Hanukkah
The original Hanukkah lights
Rabbi Michael Panitz
If you free associate on the word “Hanukkah,” it is likely that among your first mental images will be a Hanukkiyah – maybe a craft project, the work of your own Sunday School-age hands? Or the family’s customary menorah when you were a child? Or an inheritance from a late grandparent that you took to your college dorm? Or perhaps one that you kindled when raising your children? It is likely that all these menorah memories involve a candelabrum with eight candle cups and a ninth one at a different level.
But was that the original Hanukkah menorah? Demonstrably not. Both literary and archaeological sources tell us that our first tradition was to have a lamp. It was filled with a plant-derived oil, preferably olive oil. The amount of oil and the length of wick would determine how long it would burn – the mandated duration was the length of the evening rush hour, so that a maximum number of people, walking home past our doorway, would see our effort to publicize the miracle of the holiday. Candles came later, probably when many of the Jewish people migrated away from the Mediterranean basin into climate zones too cold for olive trees to flourish.
The Babylonian Talmud, an encyclopedia of Jewish law, lore, and Bible interpretation from the centuries after the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple, preserves records of how we practiced our religion in its formative era. The standard practice for Hanukkah, we are told
(Tractate Shabbat 21b), was “one lamp per household.” That is to say, from the first through the eighth nights of Hanukkah, the householders would light one lamp in observance of the holiday. The preferable place to display that lamp was in a sconce outside the house, to the left of the main door. That way, the house was framed by symbols of Jewish identity: the mezuzah on the right side of the door (as you face the entrance from the outside) and the Hanukkah lamp on the left side.
It is the nature of fashion to change. The unadorned, hand-made, pinched-spout lamps of Judean households were themselves an innovation from stillolder, simple, saucer lamps, because the pinched spout supported the wick. But that style, in turn, gave way to fancier designs. When Hanukkah was a young festival, in the second century Before the Common Era, the fashion in other parts of the Hellenistic world was to use molds to create lamps. Obviously, having a mold made it easier to produce large quantities of lamps and to put deluxe, elaborate lamps within reach of many more households. It is quite likely, therefore, that some of our ancestors substituted a fancier lamp for the “cocked hat” style of the older lamps.
Loyal Jews were not the only ones using lamps. In the pre-Thomas Edison era, lamps were a household necessity. Even in sites from the Land of Israel, there are numerous examples of lamps that definitely would not have been appropriate for Hanukkah use. Floral and geometric motifs are fine, but not idolatrous
themes. The next lamp, featuring pictures of the Greek demigod “Cupid,” would have been unorthodox, to say the least!
How did we get from the Rabbinic norm of “one lamp per household, each night” to the contemporary practice? The Talmud relates that some people, more punctilious in their observance, would have a lamp for each member of the household. There is an echo of this practice in many Jewish homes today, where the number of Sabbath candles increases with each addition to the family.
Finally, we get to the “punctilious among the punctilious” – clearly not the majority in its own day (the 1st century Before the Common Era), but the standard practice today. Such people would light a different number each day. One custom was to begin with eight lamps and reduce the number of lamps by one each night, until only one lamp would be lit on the final night of Hanukkah. That was the practice of the School of Shammai. The famous rival of that academy, the School of Hillel, reversed the order. They lit one lamp on the first night, adding one each night and concluding with eight on the final night – from which our now-standard practice descends.
Like life in general, and certainly like Judaism, Hanukkah observances reflect the ever-shifting balance of the old and the new.
Dr. Rabbi Michael Panitz is the rabbi at Temple Israel in Norfolk.
Hasmonean era lamps, Israel, from the collection of Mark Solberg.
Roman-era mold-produced lamps (about 1st century of the Common Era), from the collection of Sheila and Rabbi Michael Panitz.
Roman-era lamp displaying images of Cupid. From the collection of Sheila and Rabbi Michael Panitz.
Happy Hanukkah
HANUKKAH HAPPENINGS in Jewish Tidewater
Light up the holiday by attending one or more of these community-oriented experiences. With some events geared for children and others for adults, some in Virginia Beach and others in Norfolk, plenty of options are available to celebrate Hanukkah with community. Chag Hanukkah Sameach!
Chabad Lubavitch of Tidewater
Menorah Car Parade – Sharing the light in a world that seems dark
Thursday, December 26, 5:30 pm
Starts at Chabad House
Includes the CTEEN Limo Party. First 30 cars to RSVP will be outfitted with a rooftop menorah.
Dinner to go provided with an RSVP to 757-616-0770.
Giant Menorah Lighting and Celebration – Light up the night and darkness
Sunday, December 29, 4:30 pm
Mount Trashmore parking lot near the YMCA Hanukkah treats, gelt drop, latkes, donuts, and festive music.
RSVP: www.chabadoftidewater.com/light.
Congregation Beth Chaverim and Temple Emanuel
Combined Hanukkah services and celebration
Friday, December 27, 6 pm
Temple Emanuel
Musical Shabbat/Hanukkah services with the combined Congregation Beth Chaverim and Temple Emanuel Choir. Stay for latkes, jelly donuts, laughter, and fun. Free.
RSVP by Dec. 20 at 757-428-2591.
Congregation Beth El
Celebrate Hanukkah
Friday, December 27, 5:30 pm
Congregation Beth El Services, dinner, and lighting the menorah (provided by Beth El or bring your own)
$10/adult, $5/children under 13, $30/family.
RSVP by December 20: 757-625-7821.
Jewish Museum & Cultural Center
A Celebration of Lights
Sunday, December 29, 2 - 3:30 pm
Jewish Museum & Cultural Center, Portsmouth Crafts, spin the dreidel, light a menorah, hot chocolate, snacks.
Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins screening.
RSVP: jmccportsmouth@gmail.com or 757-391-9266
Jewish Virginia Beach
Jewish rapper Ari Lesser
Thursday, December 26, 6 pm
24th Street Park
Chanukkah and Ice
Monday, December 30, 5:30 pm
Town Center
Special Hanukkah gifts for every child, donuts and latkes, and arts and crafts.
$9.50/person includes skates.
VB Menorah Parade, Spreading the light of Hanukkah
Wednesday, January 1, 4 pm
Meet at 3400 Holly Road, Virginia Beach
Receive an LED menorah. Stops at Trader Joe’s and Town Center for menorah lighting, Hanukkah gifts and donuts.
Kehillat Bet Hamidrash/ Kempsville Conservative Synagogue (KBH)
Indoor and Outdoor Menorah Lighting
Monday, December 30, 5:30 pm
KBH
Light dinner, latkes, and Hanukkah music.
Ohef Sholom Temple
Drinks & Dreidels
Tuesday, December 17, 6 – 8:30 pm
Ohef Sholom Temple
Latkes and vodka, improv show, and trivia competition.
For adults, with babysitting available.
$25/person
RSVP: ohefsholom.org
Temple Lev Tikvah
Friday, December 27, 7:30 pm
Temple Lev Tikvah
Temple Israel
Candle lighting service on the last night of Hanukkah during Zoom minyan.
Thursday, January 2
Call for Zoom information: 757-489-4550.
The Norfolk Kollel Family
Chanukah Celebration
Wednesday, January 1, 6 pm
B’nai Israel Congregation
$8 per person, $40 per family.
Information: Norfolkkollel.com.
Join us in illuminating the Jewish Future
Through your legacy gift of any size, you’ll ensure that the warmth of Hanukkah continues to spread its glow for future generations while helping sustain our most cherished Jewish Organizations in Tidewater:
• B’nai Israel Congregation
• Beth Sholom Village
• Chabad of Tidewater
• Congregation Beth El
• Jewish Family Service of Tidewater
• KBH Kempsville Conservative Synagogue
• Ohef Sholom Temple
• Simon Family JCC
• Strelitz International Academy
• Temple Emanuel
• United Jewish Federation of Tidewater
Learn more and start building your legacy today: foundation.jewishva.org/life-legacy.
Happy Hanukkah
Making Hanukkah shine in public schools and beyond
Sierra Lautman
As Hanukkah approaches, Jewish families look forward to celebrating the Festival of Lights with candles, latkes, and community traditions. For many, this time of year also brings the opportunity to share the beauty of the holiday in diverse community settings, including public schools.
Parents and grandparents often fi nd themselves in the role of the “Hanukkah parent,” helping teachers and classmates understand this holiday. Those volunteering to speak or bring a Hanukkah-themed activity to a child’s class might consider sharing the story of the Maccabees and the miracle of the oil, alongside hands-on experiences such as spinning dreidels or adding candles to a menorah. PJ Library offers a wealth of child-friendly resources, including crafts, books, and recipes, at pjlibrary.org/hanukkah.
In a classroom, remember to focus on what makes Hanukkah unique, rather
than comparing it to other holidays. Bring joy, education, and hands-on learning, helping children of all backgrounds appreciate the values of resilience and light that Hanukkah represents.
It’s equally important to navigate public school traditions with awareness of inclusion. The Anti-Defamation League’s guide on the December Dilemma provides strategies for ensuring holiday celebrations respect all students’ backgrounds and meet constitutional guidelines. This resource is a must-read for parents working with teachers to make classroom activities inclusive: JewishVA.org/DecemberDilemma. Consider printing a copy and using it as a conversation starter with teachers or school administrators.
For more resources to help celebrate Hanukkah and share it with the greater community to foster inclusivity and understanding, contact Sierra Lautman at SLautman@UJFT.org
