Oh hey there. Happy Hanukkah. Tonight’s the first night of Hanukkah, and every year around this time, I get asked a lot of questions:
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What do you do for Hanukkah?
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What do you want for Hanukkah?
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Hanukkah’s a big holiday like Christmas, right?
Which is understandable. Ever since I was a kid, I like to tell people what it’s all about. Each year my family lights the menorah each night, usually eats potato pancakes at least once, and exchanges gifts on one night, but not necessarily the first. While the gift-giving is fun, it’s really not a big deal, so I don’t usually think too much about what I hope to get. Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah) isn’t like Christmas – it’s much smaller, and is really a minor holiday in the Jewish calendar (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Passover are the biggest ones.)
Even though it’s a minor holiday, I love it.
The quiet. The simplicity. The low-key nature. The delicious fried potato pancakes and jelly doughnuts.
As a kid, Hanukkah was a big deal because we got a present each night, and sometimes we’d get together with aunts, uncles, and cousins. I always felt kind of caught in the middle – wanting some of the glitz of Christmas (the major gifts and the lights, mostly), but also feeling really proud of my holiday.
As an adult, I often think about what it’s like to be Jewish in a country where most people celebrate Christmas, whether or not they’re religious. How a lot of Americans, and people in general, don’t know very much about Hanukkah. How we have our own strong traditions.
I liked having our family Hanukkah dinner tonight. We lit the menorah, ate dinner, chatted, and that was about it. And since I’ve never celebrated Christmas (except for going to friends’ homes for meals or holiday parties), I don’t really know what it’s like, I guess. I just know that I feel very overwhelmed and sometimes Scrooge-y this time of year, but I also can imagine that it’s exciting to pick out and decorate a tree, and prepare a big meal, and buy lots of gifts.
Whatever the case, I love my holiday. I love that my sister and I will probably be getting Chinese food and seeing a movie on Christmas Eve. And that when I was a kid my family would drive to CVS on Christmas Day, since it was the only place open, it was something to do, and we wanted to go for a drive to see all the Christmas lights anyway.
So, for all of you celebrating for the next eight days, Happy Hanukkah. Let’s eat some locally-grown, organic latkes and applesauce together, shall we?
(Speaking of food, I will have some food-related posts around here again, sometime soon. But I’m also really enjoying these thoughts-turned-writing kinds of posts. Whatever’s on my mind these days.)
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Happy Hanukkah, Lisa! I didn’t realize you were Jewish! I hope you enjoy this year’s festival of lights! While I am Catholic, my oldest son converted and he and his family are Jewish. I enjoy the holiday thru him and the first night of Hanukkah, the grandbabies open our gifts!
Your menorah is beautiful….have fun and enjoy our latkes!
Thanks so much, Ann! I really love Hanukkah. It must be fun to celebrate the holiday with your family.
Happy Hanukkah! We celebrate both holidays – I am Christian, my husband is Jewish. We aren’t deeply religious, so we celebrate more on the side of our heritage and family traditions and are having fun sharing these with our little children. My kids are so excited to have a Christmas tree AND a menorah
Enjoyed reading your post.
I have always loved the story of Hanukkah. Having grown up with many Jewish friends I had such a fun time in school when we would eat latkes and applesauce to share in each others traditions.
Smile. I loved hearing about how you and your family celebrate this holiday. I enjoy the simplicity…the focus on each other and on good food. Thank you for sharing, my friend. Happy Hanukkah!
yayyy chanukah people
thanks for writing this post. i made smitten kitchen parsnip latkes with dill sour cream this year, lit my menorah, said the chanukah prayers with BT, and opened presents by the christmas tree. it’s fun to always keep my own traditions and add some new ones to repertoire, as you read about 
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