Even Gary and Elaine would know how to celebrate Hannukah
So Hannukah is winding down and although I haven’t felt very joyful this year, I do have a newfound appreciation for what is the season of miracles. And I am trying to shake myself out of my funk, but I’m not quite there, I think. I’ve mostly kept my Internet presence to this blog and e-mail, which is weird for me, but I am feeling a little unsocial at the moment. Still, I have been saving this item for a month or so and meant to post it just before the holiday. Anything that involves me pulling out my scanner (the printer 3-in-1 is located under the coffee table, such is the New York apartment) will inevitably be put off and delayed. But here it is and it touches on themes I’ve discussed before about how Hannukah is made into something it’s not by American society (big! important! a holiday where families travel from far and wide to get together and bask in the glow of the menorah) and where many Jews try to make it into the Christmas they wish they had. As I’ve said, I get that it’s hard, especially with kids, to be enveloped in a holiday that seems warm and beautiful but which isn’t yours. In its wake, Hannukah has become the “but we have THIS” holiday. And I know that merchants will cater to that feeling.
So in the spirit of Catalog Living (which inspired the title of this post, in case you’re not on the CL express), I bring you this ad. Despite the fact that they are generically called “Blue/Silver Glass Star Ornaments,” the description helpfully adds for those who might be squinting at their placement near the Star of David tea lights and the clear Hannukah intent (you can’t see the Hannukah tableware on the same page and menorah opposite), “make festive table accents!” Yes, these are for your Hannukah table, not at all your Hannukah tree. Wink wink wink.
From Crate & Barrel holiday catalog
Makes you just want to throw another Maccabee log on the fire and gather round the menorah to sing carols, doesn’t it?
This is another really good one, Becca–you’ve been more brilliant that usual lately. Must be all those lights.
I’ve wondered how Jewish kids [and other non-Christmas-celebrators] feel abut being ‘left out’ of all the grand to-do of Christmas. I understand the attempt to elevate Hanukkah to a big deal family holiday. But seeing as how I’m part of the majority who does celebrate Christmas, and Easter, I can never understand how it feels not to be part of a minority. I hope Your People are not offended by our holiday excess.
Mmmm, makes me want to carve up some of this ham! http://consumerist.com/2007/12/this-boneless-spiral-ham-is-delicious-for-chanukah.html
Elena, thank you. And the post I referenced in the link up there was the jew & A answer to your Hannukah question a couple of years back. I think the minority thing is something it is extremely hard to wrap your mind around if you have never experienced it. But I think we’re all minorities somewhere (single among marrieds, carless among car people, etc.) so you can get a sense.
Beth, I almost started the post referencing that when I saw that it was going around again!
I’d forgotten that Jew&A question–it’s such a good answer, something everyone can learn from. I need to have my niece read it, but she’s pretty narrow minded. She was saying some event in her life had happened on the first day of Hanukkah one year, so that’s how she could remember the date. We kept telling her it doesn’t always start on the same day each year. She just could not get that through her thick little skull. Even comparing it to Easter’s movable date didn’t help. She gets that from her father’s side of the family 🙂
Maybe she needs a Jewish wall calendar as a Christmas gift. 🙂
…or perhaps a gift for Jewish Family Day.