# Hanukkah



## Lanmark (Dec 20, 2011)

Hanukkah, la Fête des Lumières, begins this evening. This eight-day Jewish Holiday, also known as the Festival of Lights, celebrates survival, freedom and the triumph of light over darkness.







[YOUTUBE]Anv3PN5fCZA[/YOUTUBE]


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## gnathaniel (Dec 20, 2011)

Chag Sameach!

--Nat


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## SlipperFan (Dec 20, 2011)

Happy Hanukkah!


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## abax (Dec 21, 2011)

*Interesting how those of us in the tribe...*

spell Chanukkah differently. I was instructed as a child that the festival was a time for renewing friendship, forgiving wrongs and reconciling with those one may have
treated unfairly in the past and settling debts of many kinds. Of course, for us, surviving is quite an accomplishment as a people and should be celebrated.

I lit my first candle at sundown.


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## JC94030 (Dec 21, 2011)

Yes, Happy Hanukkah!
As abax expounded -- admirable aspirations that all of us can embrace.
JC


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## Clark (Dec 21, 2011)

Happy Hanukkah!


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## Lanmark (Dec 21, 2011)

There will be two candles to light this evening, set apart from the shamash (attendant) candle.

I've amended my first post above with a musical selection on YouTube for those of you who may be interested. This, by the way, is really my favorite holiday of the year, and it's not just because I love latkes and beef brisket or that I'm drawn to a candle flame like a moth.


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## Lycaste53 (Dec 21, 2011)

What is represented by these eight candles? The eight is also a symbol for eternitiy, are there other aspects? 
Christs celebrate at the thame time the ´Advent´, the 4 Sundays before Christmas, every sunday one more candle.
The 4 and the 8, what is the difference and what is the same? 2x2=4
2x2x2=8. Any ideas?


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## SlipperFan (Dec 21, 2011)

I think it's 9 candles on a menorah, a central one and 8 branches.


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## likespaphs (Dec 21, 2011)

eight for the eight nights the oil burned
{all but one vial of oil to be burned in the eternal light was destroyed along with the temple when it was destroyed (the first time?). they found one vial in the ruins. it should have lasted one day but the miracle of hanukah is that it burned eight days, as long as it took to make more (i think)}


nine candles.
eight for the eight days and one to light 'em


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Dec 21, 2011)

Happy Hanukkah! We're keeping it low key, just candles and all, until Saturday when the (almost) whole family comes over...then we'll do the presents and latkes and brisket and too much fat in the diet...but, I will accompany it with too much red wine!


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## abax (Dec 22, 2011)

Lanmark, it's my favorite holiday too. Xmas is loud and
consumer dominated and reports on retail sales. I like the quiet celebration of Chanukkah with family and really gooood food. I even baked Challah today...delicious!


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## Lanmark (Dec 22, 2011)

We light the third candle this evening.  There's something very peaceful and reassuring in carrying out these ancient rituals and traditions, knowing that millions of others around the world are doing the same.








Lycaste53 said:


> What is represented by these eight candles? The eight is also a symbol for eternitiy, are there other aspects?
> Christs celebrate at the thame time the ´Advent´, the 4 Sundays before Christmas, every sunday one more candle.
> The 4 and the 8, what is the difference and what is the same? 2x2=4
> 2x2x2=8. Any ideas?





likespaphs said:


> eight for the eight nights the oil burned
> {all but one vial of oil to be burned in the eternal light was destroyed along with the temple when it was destroyed (the first time?). they found one vial in the ruins. it should have lasted one day but the miracle of hanukah is that it burned eight days, as long as it took to make more (i think)}
> 
> 
> ...



Correct! :clap: This holiday has its origins in the miracle of the Maccabees.



abax said:


> Lanmark, it's my favorite holiday too. Xmas is loud and
> consumer dominated and reports on retail sales. I like the quiet celebration of Chanukkah with family and really gooood food. I even baked Challah today...delicious!



There is indeed something very peaceful and joyous about the celebrations of Hanoucca. Friday evening I will get out my favorite Craig Taubman CD, The Shabbat Lounge (I highly recommend it to everyone), and we will enjoy a home-cooked traditional beef brisket meal accompanied by the songs from this wonderful album.

I'll get dragged -- kicking and screaming - LOL, not really -- into Christmas celebrations for at least a few hours on Sunday and Monday by family members who celebrate Christmas, but the season of Chanukkah is much more dear to my heart.


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## Lycaste53 (Dec 22, 2011)

Thanks, now I understand the miracle of the eternal light, it burned for 8 days and the 8 is the symbol for eternity too. 
I wish all of you, who are celebrating these 8 days, peace, friendship, forgiveness and all the best for your families...and some flowering orchids too..
Best regards, Gina


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## abax (Dec 23, 2011)

*Family background...might it be permissible to*

ask members of the tribe for their historical background?
I've been interested for years in how and where we all came from originally. It does make a bit of difference in
how we spell/pronounce names of holidays, etc.

I'm from a Sephardic background of Levi-Nathans who
came here from Spain in the mid-to-late 1500s to escape
the Inquisition. By and large, Sephardic Jews originated
in North Africa, probably Alexandria, Egypt where there
was a large population of Jewish citizens in the Ptolemaic 
period. Anyone else like to contribute to my inquiry?


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## abax (Dec 23, 2011)

Loooove the Hanukkats! Persians always look pissed off
to me.


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## Lanmark (Dec 23, 2011)

abax said:


> ask members of the tribe for their historical background?
> I've been interested for years in how and where we all came from originally. It does make a bit of difference in
> how we spell/pronounce names of holidays, etc.
> 
> ...



I have an Ashkenazic maternal background, descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine. Yiddish was spoken. My mother's family immigrated here (USA) shortly before the Holocaust, coming from the village of Zezulin, gmina Ludwin in the province of Lublin near the eastern border of Poland with the Ukraine. The province of Lublin is where the Majdanek concentration camp was located. 59K of the 79K people who died there during its 34 months of operation were Polish Jews.

Hanoucca is how I generally spell the name of this holiday, but this is because I grew up in a multilingual home. English and French, however, are the only two languages which really "stuck" on me. Hanoucca is the French spelling.


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## Lanmark (Dec 23, 2011)

We'll light four candles today, making a point to do so before sundown using slightly larger candles because Shabbat begins at sundown.






I'm pleased that the winter solstice is behind us now. The daylengths are once again increasing. :clap:

[YOUTUBE]yJqLkffk5ac[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]bUTiKtCS23c[/YOUTUBE]


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Dec 23, 2011)

I'm Ashkenazi.........my father was a Galitzianer (now Poland, but my father always claimed Austria, as it belonged to Austria when he was born), my mother was from Odessa. Both families moved to Germany after WW1, because (at the time) it was the safest place for Jews in Europe...well, so much for that idea. Long stories about their histories! But there is a "Jewish Y-chromosome" that is very distinct....found in most Jews, both Ashkenazi and Sepahrdic. Interestingly enough, there was a tribe in Southern Africa (not sure which country) that claimed to be Jewish. That was always disputed...until they were tested. Apparently, they do have the Jewish Y! Interestingly, according to my youngest son, the Bedouins also have that Y chromosome.


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## abax (Dec 24, 2011)

*There are also Chinese Jews and there was*

a Talmud scholar in NY who was making the group a new
Tora because the copy they had at the time of their discovery in China was literally falling apart due to age
and usage over many generations.

Thank you for telling me your stories and I dearly hope to
have more responses. Our history is a very long and interesting one on so many levels.


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## cnycharles (Dec 24, 2011)

a good many african jewish people are from ethiopia (and many are christian jews), and there are others supposedly from all corners of africa

also want to add wishes for a happy hanukkah


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## abax (Dec 24, 2011)

*Aaahhhh Lanmark, you made me cry with your*

sweet music. I haven't heard the lullaby since I was a
child and my mother and grandmother sung it while rocking me to sleep. I don't remember the words, but I
have lovely memories of the tune. Thank you.


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## Lanmark (Dec 24, 2011)

Tonight, after sundown when Shabbat has ended, we will light five candles.









abax said:


> Thank you.


 You're welcome. The point of this thread was not to proselytize but to honor and celebrate some wonderful cultural traditions. I'm glad this has touched your heart. 


The following story from Oak Park, Michigan is being reported today by the Associated Press. I find it heartwarming:

_"OAK PARK --- Congregation Beth Shalom is continuing its annual practice of placing a Christmas tree inside the Oak Park synagogue to welcome the homeless of various faiths.
The Detroit Free Press reports Saturday that the synagogue allows clients of the South Oakland Shelter to use its kitchen, classrooms and Youth Lodge through Monday as churches that participate throughout the year in the program are busy with their own activities over the Christmas holiday.
Shelter executive director Ryan Hertz says volunteers at Congregation Beth Shalom "really step up" and that the Christmas tree makes a big difference to the homeless staying there.
There has been debate as to whether the tree violates ancient Jewish laws, but Rabbi Robert Gamer says "it's about respecting others and their traditions."
_
[YOUTUBE]jYTr-1MZc68[/YOUTUBE]


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## Lanmark (Dec 25, 2011)

On the evening of the 25th we will light six candles. 






Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas to you all!

I hope no one will take offense at this song. It always makes me chuckle.
:rollhappy:

[YOUTUBE]I4s5MMLN_NY[/YOUTUBE]


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## likespaphs (Dec 25, 2011)

thanks for posting this song!
it's been running through my head all day!

my roots are ashkenazi too
but my dad went to a sephardic shul
my dad's folks and my ma's ma came over from russia
my ma's pa came from romania
all early 1900, i think


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## Lanmark (Dec 25, 2011)

Reporter Hanna Saunders of tv station WILX in Lansing, Michigan gives us the following story:

*Christmas Day Becomes Mitzvah Day For Local Jewish Community*
_Congregation Shaarey Zedek was crowded Christmas morning with people packing their trunks with 1,200 cookies and other treats. Although Christmas fell on a day of Hanukkah this year, 40 members of the Greater Lansing Jewish Community gathered for a day of Mitzvah, or good deeds for the community. Member Erica Holman organized the event: "The Jewish community recognizes how hard it is to be away from your family on a major holiday. We just felt like giving back to the community to just make them feel as important as we think they are."

The group split up and and stopped at the police and fire departments of Lansing, East Lansing and Meridian Township to drop of brightly-colored packages of assorted cookies to workers.

Sargent Susan Baylis held her family time on Christmas Eve. She worked on Christmas Day 5:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. "It can get a little lonely," she explained about holiday shifts. "It's nice to have people from the community appreciate us."

The team volunteered to pick up shifts at Lansing's Ronald McDonald House for those who had Christmas plans. They also made a special stop at a local shelter to provide everything needed for a big Christmas dinner. They already plan on hosting their second Mitzvah Day next Christmas._


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## Lanmark (Dec 26, 2011)

This evening, Monday the 26th, we will light seven candles. 






[YOUTUBE]qSJCSR4MuhU[/YOUTUBE]


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Dec 26, 2011)

You wouldn't post the Mr. Hanky song also? When my youngest was about 5 or so, he really loved the South Park episode with Mr. Hanky. He even said he wanted to eat a lot of fiber on Christmas Eve, so Mr. Hanky would come. So I went out and bought a giant tootsie roll. I shaped it somewhat, carved a smile at one end and stuck in 2 tictacs, and drew eyeballs on them...put a little Lego hat on it, and slipped it under his pillow. He was very surprised....after the initial look of horror on his face, he was so happy.


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## Lanmark (Dec 26, 2011)

Eric Muehlbauer said:


> You wouldn't post the Mr. Hanky song also? When my youngest was about 5 or so, he really loved the South Park episode with Mr. Hanky. He even said he wanted to eat a lot of fiber on Christmas Eve, so Mr. Hanky would come. So I went out and bought a giant tootsie roll. I shaped it somewhat, carved a smile at one end and stuck in 2 tictacs, and drew eyeballs on them...put a little Lego hat on it, and slipped it under his pillow. He was very surprised....after the initial look of horror on his face, he was so happy.



Sad to say I've searched but can't find a version suitable for this forum. I'm afraid this one goes far enough to likely be deemed offensive by one or more of our esteemed members here.  The Southpark creators really push the envelope and challenge boundaries, so to speak, which endears them to my wild and radical heart in no uncertain terms. :clap:


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## Lanmark (Dec 27, 2011)

This evening at _le coucher de soleil_ (sunset) we will light all of the candles as we commence the last of these _huit jours_ (eight days). 






Thanks to everyone for indulging me in this my little on-line _Hanoucca_ celebration. I come from a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural background. One of my goals in making this thread was to help promote understanding and a sense of community amongst all members of Slippertalk. Thank you and yasher koach to everyone who took part by reading this thread, commenting or sharing a little bit about their own heritage or Hanukkah celebrations. Shalom 

This song isn't exactly relevant to the season, but I feel it represents a closure of sorts as well as a new beginning with hope for a bright future. :wink:
[YOUTUBE]DRaQSbuTiBg[/YOUTUBE]


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