It’s So Much “Fun-akkah” to Celebrate Hanukkah
Carly Silver
Oy.
What’s set the kvetchometer off this time, you may ask? It’s not that I have a theological problem with this, but it’s just…a bit strange. Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, a Mormon, has written and performed a Hanukkah song to be released online.
When I first heard the news, I thought it a bit strange. Looking more deeply into the matter, I think that the song Hatch wrote and performed for Tablet magazine is a positive incentive for Jewish Hanukkah traditions.
Many Christian children are brought up learning the caroling traditions and songs that have been around for more than a century. Favorites like “Jingle Bells,” “Santa Baby,” “Deck the Halls,” and “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” are pop culture staples during the winter seasons. But what do we have in terms of popular songs to celebrate our winter festivities? Not many.
Take about a minute and try to brainstorm all the Hanukkah holiday tunes you can muster. When you’re done, count them back. To be frank, the only one I could think of was Adam Sandler’s famous “Hanukkah Song.” As a teenager who grew up watching the schticks of comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and Sandler, the jokes in Sandler’s song about Jewish delis and O.J. Simpson struck a familiar chord. However, Sandler’s song became famous because of both his humorous approach and its framework that is structured around Christmas carols. Indeed, the song opens, “This is a song, that, uh; there’s a lot of Christmas songs out there, but not too many about Hanukkah.” Sandler wrote the song precisely because we have few Hanukkah tunes to jam to while lighting the menorah.
The Jewish Daily Forward recently chronicled some of the best-known Hanukkah songs. After skimming the article, I realized that I recognized almost none of the names. But, when I read the Forward article, I realized just how few songs kids today have that celebrate Hanukkah. How many Hebrew schools teach children to sing “The Ballad of Judah Maccabee” or “Count the Candles”? Those songs might be a bit old, but do we have anything else? I think that we could stand for a revival of Hanukkah tradition.
The singing tradition is one that brings families together on the holidays. The tradition of carols and holiday-themed songs are ones that I imagine many families cherish. I would have loved to sing with my family when I was younger about latkes and menorahs, but I just heard the traditional Hanukkah story. It would have been much more interesting as a child had it been set to music.
By no means do I think we need to compete with Christmas carols or produce that magnitude of music to celebrate our holiday. I do think, however, that the singing practice at holiday-time is a great one that I would love to emulate. Who wouldn’t love singing about latkes and dreidels?
The fact that Orrin Hatch took it upon himself to write and perform a Hanukkah song is an incentive to Jews everywhere to step it up a notch. Maybe his song will become a staple on Hanukkah for some families. Also, who doesn’t love music? If it’s our faith, let’s jam with it! Chronicle your favorite Hanukkah memories, traditions, and the holiday’s history into a little ditty that your family can sing every year.
Latke Lovin’
Kelly Seeger
Around this time of the year most college students are extremely stressed with studying for finals and writing final papers. Though college students are already infamously labeled for their poor nutrition consisting of fatty food and alcohol (both to excess), Chanukah gives Jews an excuse to embrace gluttony—like we need one?! I know, HAHA—with oily, fatty foods. The period from Thanksgiving to Christmas is usually the worst in a dieter’s world, as they are surrounded by irresistible delicacies more so than at any other time of the year. Even if you had an extra serving or two at Thanksgiving, cut yourself some slack as you study for finals and take part in celebrating Chanukah by eating foods to remember the miracle behind this holiday.
Whether it be in the form of doughnuts, latkes, or deep-fried Oreos, it’s easy to give yourself a treat while also recognizing Chanukah this upcoming week.
Since I love cooking fresh meals that I am be proud of, I cringed last year when my mom told me she just heated up frozen latkes, YUCK! So here’s a simple recipe for latkes that even a college person with a tight budget or minimum appliances can manage.
Ingredients:
About 4 medium potatoes or 3 large ones (any variation, although white are commonly used)
1 large onion
2 eggs
2 tablespoons matzo meal (flour works too)
teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ cup (or so) olive oil
Directions:
Peel/ cut potatoes into tiny pieces, as if they were grated in a food processor (which most of you do not have). Pour some water over the pieces, and then drain it after a minute or so. After chopping the onion, combine it to the potato mix. Spread the mix evenly onto paper towels, then blot it with more towels to take out the liquid (prevents browning). Put the mixture back into the bowl along with the eggs, salt and pepper. Then put a drizzle of oil into the skillet over medium heat. Finally, spoon clumps of the latke mix into the oil. Be sure to only do 3 or 4 per batch. After five minutes or so (or until the undersides are browned) flip the latkes like you would for pancakes. Then transfer the sizzling latkes to paper towels to eliminate some of the excess oil. Repeat until the “batter” is gone.
* Adjust the frying time depending on how crispy you like them!
* Latkes are best enjoyed with applesauce or sour cream.
* This recipe was adapted from epicurious.com.
And for those of you, who don’t have a stovetop to proudly make a latke, maybe just stop by your local bakery (dare I say it) to indulge in an oily treat.
Chappy Chanukah
Sam Green
I like latkes, dreidels, gelt, presents, lighting the Channukhia, hanging out with the fam, and other such entailments of the that holiday that starts tomorrow night (December 11th, 2009) which has a difficult-to-spell name, because really, how could you not? But what exactly are we celebrating when we celebrate Chanukah? The discussion over the social significance of the the ‘Festival of Lights’ is as least as old as Christmas specials for bad sitcoms and a menorah on the White House lawn. Our religion tells us the Chanukah represents the victory of good over evil, of spirituality over materialism, of the glories of maintaining our tradition rather than assimilating into an attractive alien culture, of fighting to maintain our Jewish life way of life at all costs, of celebrating G-d’s benevolence in the form of ‘the miracle of the oil’, of the strength and fortitude of Am Yisrael….or something like that.
Our (American) culture tells us that Chanukah is like Christmas, but for the Jews. So what’s it all about? Beats me. Is singing Ma’oz Tzur before running into the den to rip open the wrapping covering five new (rated ‘M’ for mature) XBox games enough to preserve the spirit of the holiday? And everyone knows that Chanukah is a minor holiday anyway…or at least what they told me in Sunday school. So what is the appropriate attitude one should take towards the holiday which has become the “eight crazy nights” of presents and winter-time Jewish merry-making immortalized in Adam Sandler’s ’90s classic, “The Hanukkah Song”? I’m a little confused about the proper spelling of the name as you can see.
I’m pretty sure that a holiday whose entire raison d’etre is because of a bloody military rebellion by one small tribal group over a larger, more powerful political group has got to entail some undertones of Jewish-superiority. Or perhaps we’re just “celebrating our heritage”. Or maybe we should simply forget about the fighting, call Judah Maccabee one heck of a stand-up guy who looked good in a breastplate, and eat some more latkes. Actually, the last option sounds pretty good to me. Additionally, this Hanukkah I’m looking forward to dominating at dreidel.
Hag Sameach and good luck with finals.
The Modern Day Miracle
Beth Zalcman
This Shabbat, Midreshet Lindenbaum (where I work as a dorm counselor) took the girls to Safed. From what I understand, Shabbat in Tzfat (Safed) is a particularly interesting “chavaya” (experience) and is considered a must for those here on their gap year. To add fuel to the fire, this wasn’t just Shabbat, it was Shabbat chanukka (pun intended).
I never really connected to the type of people who lived in Tzfat, the artsy, Carlebach or Breslov type. In my mind, a lot of them are a bit, well, crazy. Take our Friday tour guide, for example. He was 20 years old (younger than me), had been married since he was 18 and a father of a four month old girl. He had his guitar on him the whole tour and would be strumming different Chassidic melodies as we went from synagogue to synagogue. The people who live in Tzfat are the type who very much involved in kabbalistic teachings; spirituality and who knows what else. Not really my cup of tea.
As we got ready to light the channuka candles before shabbat, we all crowded around and one of the teachers got up to speak. “Girls, we are about to light the candles. We must keep in mind that we are now advertising the miracle of channuka, we want people to see that there was a miracle”. We all lit and sang together and then left to the synagogue for the Friday night service.
As we were walking to where we would be praying, a weird thought entered my mind. I understood why we lit channuka candles by the windows outside of Israel. By doing so there, we really were advertising the miracle of channuka to the non-Jews who we live among. However, to whom are we going to advertise the miracle? Everyone in Israel knows about channuka and the miracle that we are commemorating, at least on the most basic level. So why do we have to light near a window? Who is this message for?
We got to the square in the middle of Tzfat’s old city. Some men had set up a mechitza and had begun a Carlebach style minyan. At one end of the mechitza, a large Menorah had been lit. As we began the prayers welcoming in the Shabbat, everything else lay forgotten, all we cared about was the singing and the dancing. It started raining in the middle of the service, but no matter, we went right on dancing.
Truth be told, I had forgotten about my earlier question about lighting a Menorah by the window until today. As our Shabbat had been packed and very high, spiritually, I didn’t really have time to think of answer. After getting back to the seminary, I finally understood. We don’t light the channuka candles to only advertise the miracle to non-Jews who may be unaware. We advertise the miracle for ourselves, to remind ourselves that there is more to life than just the materialistic concerns of our day-to-day lives. Spiritualism versus Hellenism- isn’t that what the miracle of Channuka is all about?
