I nearly forgot to post about our Hanukkahpalooza at the House of Jules last weekend! This will be brief: we had lots of fun, blah blah blah, the end. Just kidding. But we did have fun! And we ate too much! (What else is new?) We made fresh potato pancakes (latkes to you fellow Jews out there) but used the extra blintzes I made the weekend before, thank goodness–because that was hours of cooking! It was so yummy, I wish I could have sent all of you out there a little sample. After dinner, we commenced with the gift exchange. That’s always a good time in our family; we do…
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Hanukkah-palooza!
So, finally the story of our traditional Hanukkah-palooza! Our little family of four has many traditions. One of the most important ones to us involves another family who is very, very special to us. Background information: We used to live two houses away from this family in a neighborhood just about 2 miles from where we are now (we’ve been in this house for 7 years now). Although we only lived in that other house for about 2, maybe 2 1/2 years (we were renting), we met this family who will be friends for our lifetime. There are seven of them (the five kids ranging currently in age from 7…
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Happy Hanukkah!
Today at sundown, Hanukkah begins! For those of you who may be wondering what it’s all about, I searched around for a reader-friendly (i.e. NOT BORING) explanation, and found one courtesy of Ed Cohen: Hanukkah celebrates a victory of the Jewish people, in 165 B.C.E. The battle was between Judah and his Maccabee army against the Syrian-Greek oppressors, led by Antiochus. Antiochus’ objective was to destroy the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Judah’s small group revolted to protect the Temple and achieve religious freedom. Lighting Hanukkah candles — each night of the eight day holiday — one candle the first night, two the second, etc. — commemorates the following legendary event:…