Hanukkah Jingle Bells

On the eighth night of Hanukkah, our tradition is to invite non-Jewish families to celebrate the final night of our holiday. Once the candle lighting and latke eating are over, we all sit in the living room, the glow of the menorah’s candles the only light, and sing the dreidel song. A child’s song, it’s easily adapted to a round, like row, row, row your boat, and within one go, everyone knows the words. As far as catchy holiday tunes go, the dreidel song is the Jewish Jingle Bells.

This year’s celebrants included Mimi, Isabelle and Amber, a trio clad in their Hanukkah aprons, and a rambunctious quintet of five little boys. Every year, I take a picture of each family, a photographic growth chart, which becomes a part of our collective history.

Menorahs are their own art form, with artists worldwide uniquely interpreting the 9-candle candelabra. Terrie and John, who joined us for night number six, gifted us with a ceramic menorah handcrafted in Mexico, which we filled with candles and lit night eight. They also brought a lovely merlot. Menorah & Merlot, my favorite M&M’s.

Tomorrow I’ll clean the menorah of candle drippings, put away the decorations and file the latke recipe. Next year, may our celebration be in a world at peace.

xxxea
Tie One On…an apron, of course!