Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah, the eight day Festival of Lights celebrated by the Jewish religion. We are not Jewish, but we want to expose Girlfriend to different religious traditions.
First we read about the story of Hanukkah in the book Jewish Holidays All Year Round, written by Ilene Cooper in association with The Jewish Museum.
Then, we lit the menorah, (which apparently is also called a Hanukkiah), the special candleholder used during Hanukkah. The menorah used today has nine branches, one holder for each of the eight nights of the holiday and one for the candle that is used to light the other candles. This special candle is called the shamash, which means servant in Hebrew.
Candles are lit after sundown each night and should burn at least half an hour. Blessings are said over the candles.
Then we had potato latkes (latkes is Yiddish for pancakes). They are made with shredded potatoes and onions–Girlfriend helped me make them:
They are usually fried in oil because oil plays an important part of Hanukkah lore and therefore plays an important part of the holiday. I have to say that the latkes were delicious!
dAhub and Girlfriend also played Dreidel, the Hanukkah game of chance played with a dreidel, which is a four-sided top (see top picture). All you need is a dreidel and 15 small objects such as beans, pennies or small candies for the players to use for betting. They had fun playing this game.
I have to admit that I enjoy the rhythm of the traditions in this holiday. Since we are not a church-going family, I feel that we miss out on some of the traditions one normally only finds in religious observances. I look forward to lighting the candles over the next seven nights.
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What fun! I usually participate in a Passover feast around Lent/Easter, but I neglect to consider Hannukah and all that it recalls.
One of my most beloved teachers as a child (4th grade) was Jewish, and told the story of her family coming to America and how their name was changed from Sichell to Seashell, because some immigration officer was too lazy to bother pronouncing it correctly.
During Hannukah, she led us through celebrating the 8 days and learning all about Jewish culture and history. We made latkes and lit candles and learned the significance of the dreidel. I was not a Christian back then, and my family did not practice a religion, and I remember being very confused by some classmates whose parents refused to let them participate in class that week. This was our beloved teacher, and we were learning so much about her life – how could their parents have a problem with that?
All that to say, it sounds like your daughter is beloved by you and you are pouring so much into her, and that is a beautiful thing.