How To Spell Hanukkah?
HOW DO YOU SPELL HANUKKAH?
Is it Chanukah? Hanukah? Hanukkah?
No matter how you spell it, it is the Festival of Lights, and it begins at sundown this evening. Hanukkah (that's how I choose to spell it!) is a joyous holiday. Kids look forward to gifts, and the lighting of the candles is a fun element of the holiday.
Many households will have a party, with potato latkes being cooked and served. Chocolate candy in the shape of coins is often about, the kind of Hanukkah Gelt one can eat. Dreidels will be spun,and a good time is usually had by all.
Spinning the Dreidel can be a game of great folly and levity. There are those, however, who approach it as a hard gambling variation on poker, and who spin each turn as though their life might depend on the outcome! or a Hanukkah Gelt, when it is real money, not chocolate coins in foil wrapping, is often given in multiples of the number 18. 18 equals Chai, or life, in the numeric value of the letters in Hebrew. So a gift of $18, or 2 x Chai, $36, is very popular. Some feel that a child born on the 18th day of the month will have a very bright future. Of course, most of those who feel that way are following a calendar other than the one that begins in January and ends in December!
This is the symbol for Chai, or 18, or Life.
I won't be seeing my kids for a few weeks. It happens that this year I bought them oodles of gifts for the holiday. Lots of great stuff, things I know they'll enjoy, some surprises, and some very special items. Part of the joy of giving these gifts is seeing the expression on their faces when they open the wrapped packages.
So we will extend the gift-giving period beyond the eight-day period of the holiday. I see them on December 21st, and that's when they get this year's Hanukkah bounty.
This will be a fun Hanukkah for me with the kids. Delay or no delay, we will have a great time.
It is the off-season, but there is Baseball news 12 months a year. After a full-season respite, I finally updated the Baseball Blog.
Gee, would the Yankees have won if I'd blogged all season? Does that mean it is my fault they lost? Heh heh.
