Hello, world! This blog began on September 28, 2007, and so far nobody has come looking for me with tar and feathers.
On my honor, I will do my best not to bore you. All comments are welcome as long as your discourse is civil and your language is not blue.
Happy reading, and come back often!
And whether my cup is half full or half empty, fill my cup, Lord.
So, are you Jewish and that's why you have a menorah? I've never quite figured out why non-Jewish people celebrate or observe Jewish holidays (no offense intended, just curious)... We do a lot of sitting around the table or living room enjoying the family/food. Listen to music, sing with the piano, put up a tree and maybe a couple strings out outside lights.....
Elephant's Child, this year I bypassed my usual Bah, Humbug phase and went straight to the joyous part of Christmas. I hope I'm not rushing the season too much. The big box stores have been selling Christmas stuff since before Halloween. (And this year, actually, Hanukkah started on Thanksgiving. It lasts for eight days, so don't go around in late December saying "Happy Hanukkah" -- not that you would, but I'm just saying.)
Tinsel Pudding, over here tinsel is considered extremely tacky and colourful streamers are for football games and New Year's Eve parties. But what's wrong with cabbages and broccoli? They make excellent weapons to boot when thrown with force.
All Consuming, the Hebrew words at the base of our menorah mean "these lights are holy."
Hilltophomesteader, yes, I suppose the cat is out of the bag. My mother was raised Jewish (Conservative) but she had the painting Christ Knocking at the Door over her bed during the last year of her life. My dad was brought up Methodist and I was sent to the Methodist Church as a child. I never knew whether to consider myself Jewish or not -- by heritage, certainly, but not by religion -- until Lydia Buksbazen, an old Jewish woman in Philadelphia, told me when I was 20, "Hitler would have considered you Jewish." So even if I am only "half-Jewish" (even though the rabbis in Israel consider a Jew to be anyone who practices Judaism or is the child of a Jewish mother -- and that last part describes me to a T) and my children are 1/4 Jewish and my beautiful grandchildren are only 1/8 Jewish -- and they are -- all of us would have been herded into boxcars and sent to the death camps by Adolf Hitler. So I keep a menorah in my home as a step of defiance, I suppose. We have never lit it during Hanukkah -- it sits there on the piano as a piece of family history.
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Much, much more advanced than the season is over here. I am firmly in denial. Still.
ReplyDeleteThe hanging of the greens? We like to decorate our house with tinsel and colourful streamers, not cabbages and broccoli! You crazy Yanks!
ReplyDeleteI always think that Hanukkah Menorahs looks quite beautiful, and this one is no exception. I'd love to see it fully lit.
ReplyDeleteSo, are you Jewish and that's why you have a menorah? I've never quite figured out why non-Jewish people celebrate or observe Jewish holidays (no offense intended, just curious)...
ReplyDeleteWe do a lot of sitting around the table or living room enjoying the family/food. Listen to music, sing with the piano, put up a tree and maybe a couple strings out outside lights.....
Elephant's Child, this year I bypassed my usual Bah, Humbug phase and went straight to the joyous part of Christmas. I hope I'm not rushing the season too much. The big box stores have been selling Christmas stuff since before Halloween. (And this year, actually, Hanukkah started on Thanksgiving. It lasts for eight days, so don't go around in late December saying "Happy Hanukkah" -- not that you would, but I'm just saying.)
ReplyDeleteTinsel Pudding, over here tinsel is considered extremely tacky and colourful streamers are for football games and New Year's Eve parties. But what's wrong with cabbages and broccoli? They make excellent weapons to boot when thrown with force.
All Consuming, the Hebrew words at the base of our menorah mean "these lights are holy."
Hilltophomesteader, yes, I suppose the cat is out of the bag. My mother was raised Jewish (Conservative) but she had the painting Christ Knocking at the Door over her bed during the last year of her life. My dad was brought up Methodist and I was sent to the Methodist Church as a child. I never knew whether to consider myself Jewish or not -- by heritage, certainly, but not by religion -- until Lydia Buksbazen, an old Jewish woman in Philadelphia, told me when I was 20, "Hitler would have considered you Jewish." So even if I am only "half-Jewish" (even though the rabbis in Israel consider a Jew to be anyone who practices Judaism or is the child of a Jewish mother -- and that last part describes me to a T) and my children are 1/4 Jewish and my beautiful grandchildren are only 1/8 Jewish -- and they are -- all of us would have been herded into boxcars and sent to the death camps by Adolf Hitler. So I keep a menorah in my home as a step of defiance, I suppose. We have never lit it during Hanukkah -- it sits there on the piano as a piece of family history.
Dear Bob, you know why I love your reply to Hilltop. It brought tears to my eyes - you and me, both. Shabbat shalom. xx
ReplyDelete