Happy Hannukah

NoH8

Happy Hannukah

NoH8

Happy Hannukah to those who celebrate!

I saw a cooking segment on tv for making latkes and my tongue was wagging- yummy!

Anonymous

Happy Hannukah!

JoanofArdmore

Dreidle, dreidle, dreidle,

I made it out of clay....

(A great miracle happened there.)

Happy, Happy Hannakah!!

Latkes....MMMMMMMM!

Anonymous

Happy Hannukah, y'all!!! I'm not Jewish, but alot of friends are and I'm hanging around in the hopes of scoring some rugelach...YUM!

~Marin

Towanda2

Happy Hanukkah! 

Here's a fun video on how to make latkes:

http://revver.com/watch/122981/flv/episode-13-feed-me-bubbe-latkes/ 

Enjoy - and don't forget the chocolate gelt!

Anonymous

Happy Hanukkah ! I am not Jewish but I love the miracle of this holiday. To all who celibrate Happiness.

Benita   

NoH8

I wish I had the patience and skill to make latkes. I bought some from the grocery store to heat up. I love jewish food (except that fish in a jar).

I called my 98 yo grandmother yesterday to wish her a happy hannukah and she didn't remember when it started. She has three children who didn't remind her, they're all atheists. I am too, but I always call her on the jewish holidays out of respect for her beliefs.

Anonymous

Oh, Wow!  Those look good.  I'm gonna have to try those.  And freezing them is great!

Shirley

Fllorik

I make latkes every year with regular potatoes and sweet potatoes. Everyone seems to like them! Last night was a special night for me. I made it through another year! Hoping to see next Chanukah. But our Holy Days are in September/October- Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. That is really when you count the years. And in the spring, we have Passover when we end the celebrations with the saying,"Next year in Jerusalem!" How I wish!!!

Hag Sameach to all!  (Happy Holiday to all!) 

Anonymous

We're not Jewish but we are having latkes tonight.  The principal at my daughter's school is Jewish and went to their class this morning and they talked about Chanukah. My daughter told me all about the menorah and when I told her that Jesus celebrated this when he was little she was quite surprised to find out that he was Jewish!  LOL.

In the spirit of education and embracing history and an exciting religion that holds so much meaning to all of us, I went to the kosher section and got lentil soup and latkes.  I don't know how to make anything else Jewish! Oh and served with grape juice they had in the section.

We will discuss the Festival of Lights and the miracle of the oil.

Lori ... correct me if I am wrong, but this isn't considered one of the holy days is it?  It's like you said, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, right?  Oh, I bet Passover is one, too!!  LOL! 

celia088

hmmmmm.......chocolate coins....Hanukkah gelt.

saluki

Happy Hannukah,

Marin--I forgot about chocolate Ruggies--Yum! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwYQBV66rbM 

saluki

Latkes and Ham? 

Looks like our italian friends at Balducci's goofed.

Balducci's offers ham for Chanukah
BY BILL HUTCHINSON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, December 6th 2007, 4:00 AM


Balducci's in Greenwich Village advertises tasty boneless spiral ham as 'Delicious for Chanukah.' Store blamed a clerk for the gaffe.
Oy vey! Pork for Chanukah?

The Greenwich Village gourmet grocery store, Balducci's, has become the butt of the Jewish holiday by advertising its boneless hams as "Delicious for Chanukah."

Manhattan novelist Nancy Kay Shapiro, 46, spotted the kosher faux pas while browsing the meat section Saturday at the chain's outpost at Eighth Ave. and W. 14th St.

When Shapiro went back Sunday, she took photos of the unorthodox display promoting boneless spiral-cut hams for $8.99 a pound, petite smoked hams for $6.99 a pound and boneless smoked hams for $6.29 a pound.

Instead of pointing out the mistake to management, she posted the snapshots on her blog to "amuse others."

"I just thought it was funny," Shapiro, a self-described "unobservant Jew," said. "I wasn't offended in any way. I just thought, here's somebody who knows nothing about what Jews eat."

Shapiro said that when she went back to the store Tuesday, the first night of Chanukah, the signs had vanished.

A Balducci's official was so verklempt about the error he didn't want to speak on the record. He fessed up that "it was a mistake," blaming it on a stock clerk who normally doesn't work the meat department.

ravdeb

Oh..that has been going around. That's toooo funny!

Chanukah is an historical holiday as opposed to a holy/religious holiday. It's a fun holiday, too...'specially for the kids.

In Israel it's pretty much played down. We do light candles every night and we eat latkes (well...this is the first year I didn't make them) and sufganiot which are jelly donuts. The idea is that you eat something with oil. I guess french fries should be on this list! :-)

In Israel a different town, village or family is chosen for each night and they light the candles on TV so you get to see them, if you watch that. Kinda fun.

Kids get part of this holiday off from school since it's an 8-day holiday and there are festivals geared towards kids during the holiday. They start their vacation in the middle of the holiday week so that they can have festive parties in school that week (at least for the younger kids).

Lots of candle making workshops, too!

And...just some trivia...the word "menorah" which is the candelabra we use for Chanukah, really just means lamp or light bulb. Menorah is a Hebrew word but if you use it here in Israel, they will not think you are referring to the Chanukah menorah. In Hebrew, this is called "Chanukiah".

Also...the draydels (spinning tops) made for Chanukah have letters that stand for the words, in Hebrew, Nes Gadol Haya Sham. However, the draydels made here in Israel that are used HERE say Nes Gadol Haya Poh. In English, in every country outside of Israel, this means...A Great Miracle Happened There. But in Israel...it says A Great Miracle Happened HERE!

Happy Chanukah!

Member_of_the_Club

I always think of Chanuka as a holiday celebrating courage under difficult circumstances and also standing up for what you believe in. So in that sense it feels like a holiday for all of us.

Anonymous

dEB, at my dd's school, they played with the draydels and learned the song. My dd goes to a public school and strangely enough, they are learning about this. I am all for it but confused as to why any of the holidays are included. They had a letter go out and on top of it, it said, "Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas" and then a section about Chanukah!  I think its fantastic that she is learning about it which is why we did our mini celebration here at my house.

So are  you saying that the menorah used for Chanukah is called the Chanukiah or is that the hebrew name for the holiday???? 

Thank you for sharing! It is so fun to learn about this holiday right from the country of its origin!

Anonymous

MOTC ... I'm with you .... I guess I have never understood how Christianity did away with ALL these celebrations. I believe this holiday, the Festival of Booths and some other ones were pretty beautiful celebrations that I want to teach my child.  I should convert to Jews for Jesus!!  

(PLEASE, not a debate posting ... Just my thoughts) 

ravdeb

rocktobermom..Chanukiah is the chanukah menorah in Hebrew. I know..I made a short story long and confusing!!! Sorry about that.

As for holiday celebrations in school... I am not debating..just stating a fact..that one of the reasons they celebrate Chanukah in the schools is because of the fact that Christmas is such an important holiday and they feel that the Jewish kids in the public schools will feel left out. This is one of the reasons that American Jewish kids get gifts on Chanukah in the States. It's to ease the jealousy because Chanukah comes at the same time as Christmas. Chanukah is an important holiday but not a religious holiday and so does not really compare to Christmas.

When I was in high school singing in the school Girls Choir, we did Christmas programs and they were always putting in Chanukah songs. This is EMBARRASSING because the Chanukah songs in English are strictly children's songs and are cute but not choir music. Christmas songs are beautiful music and to put these two together is NOT good!

Towanda2

There is some excellent Chanukah music available now.  I highly recommend this contemporary collection of Chanukah music for the whole family:

http://www.amazon.com/Celebrate-Hanukkah-Various-Artists/dp/B00067WGSG/ref=pd_bbs_5?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1197121985&sr=8-5

My dd sang "Ocho Candelikas" and Paul Stookey's (of Peter, Paul and Mary) "Light One Candle" in public school choir.

NoH8

Ravdeb- why are there different spellings for channuka/hannukah? Your information is fascinating.

Member_of_the_Club

The Hebrew letter at the beginning of the word Chanuka does not have an equivalent in English. It is a kind of gutteral H sound. So the various spellings reflect attempts to get at it. I prefer CH because I think it is a better reflection of the Hebrew.



And Ravdeb is right, this is not a major Jewish holiday but because of the timing with Christmas it has become more significant, at least in the US. Its a fun holiday for kids and we usually light several Chanukias so everyone gets to light one and the sight of all the flickering candles is beautiful.

Fllorik

Hey Ravdeb, is it snowing? my daughter best friend is on the Lebanese border and they are skiing!!! 

Ate leftover latkes tonight and they were just as delicious as the first time around!

I mix sour cream and applesauce on mine!!

(except when I make them with garlic!)

Anonymous

Lori, as I said, we made them, too, but didn't even think of sour cream!!

My girlfriend tried them after I said, "C'mon, it's like McDonald's hashbrowns!"  and she loved them and wanted to know where I got them.  Had to admit, I made them from a box! 

ravdeb

Towanda2..thanks for the link. I love Debbie Friedman but I especially liked the Tsimmes version of maot Tzur and Yom Hadash's song Al HaNisim.

I haven't lived in the States for over 20 years and haven't yet been back during this time of year so I'm out of it. My sister probably knows these songs and more! I'm glad there is some nice music now.

There is snow up in the north on the Lebanese border. I didn't know it had opened for skiing yet but there is a ski resort there. No snow in my part of Israel. I think we had snow flakes twice since I've lived here and they melted on the ground. Last winter there was hail that was so big that it looked like we had snow on the ground! Very cool..or is that cold?? :-)