Chanukah starts today, a very early Chanukah this year.
So I hope you enjoy hearing “Happy Hanukkah!” from every Tom, Dick, and Harry for weeks after Chanukah, until December 26! I used to correct people, but now I just accept it with a smile and move on. I guess you mellow out as you get older?
To give you a pre-Chanukah smile, please find attached one of my favorite Jewish memes. I feel like this at least a few times a week, and I bet many of you do too.
As some of the Ashkenazim say, Freilichen Chanukah! I don’t say that because I can’t pronounce it. But I can write it (with the help of a Google search to get the spelling)!
Ain’t no shame in using the term you’re more comfortable pronouncing, and that means I stick to Happy Chanukah! Or sometimes Chag Sameach, but that’s never felt…right…to me. Right or wrong (my understanding is that different people come to different conclusions), “chag” feels like a day with yom tov restrictions. It feels weird to call Chanukah a chag, even though it is…but not really because it’s different but… Maybe it’s just the lingering effects of my childhood Christmas hatred. I’d rather skip Chanukah altogether sometimes because it’s become so closely tied to Christmas in American culture.
Well, I started this post to just share a couple light-hearted funny thoughts, and instead you got a load of my baggage. Yep, that sounds like Christmas to me.
Enjoy some fried foods tonight, and check your smoke detectors before you light the menorah!
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