The Chanukah Thread

[DisneyCP2002]

I also am not Jewish but have many friends who are. I wish everyone a Happy Chanukah.

 

[belle_of_the_ball]

Hi Belle..This is a great web-site for questions ,although I'm sure many here are willing to answer specific questions. It's Judaism 101
http://www.jewfaq.org/

thanks it did help...but i do have a few un answed questions, and i think some of you may be the best people ask (some may take offense so im sorry in advance if i do..and ill probably appologize again)

1) how do you feel about Chritmas being the "head" winter holiday?

2) do you think Chanukah should be a bigger part in winter celebration?

3) what are your oppinions on the "war against christmas"

4) do you take offense to mentions of chritmas? (ie kids making christmas crafts in school or wishing you a merry chritmas)

5) What do you think of the teachings in school about important points in Jewish history? (the holocost and others)

thanks so much!

and a very happy Chanukah!

 

[JennyMominRI]

thanks it did help...but i do have a few un answed questions, and i think some of you may be the best people ask (some may take offense so im sorry in advance if i do..and ill probably appologize again)

1) how do you feel about Chritmas being the "head" winter holiday?

2) do you think Chanukah should be a bigger part in winter celebration?

3) what are your oppinions on the "war against christmas"

4) do you take offense to mentions of chritmas? (ie kids making christmas crafts in school or wishing you a merry chritmas)

5) What do you think of the teachings in school about important points in Jewish history? (the holocost and others)

thanks so much!

and a very happy Chanukah!

1 I think it's to be expected. There are far more Christians in this country than Jews

2 No not really..It's a minor festival.. I don't expect Mickeys Very Merry CHanukah party.. Passover ,Rosh HAshanah.Much bigger deals...I'd rather see Mickey's Very Merry Rosh Hashanah Party.
3 ,I don't think there is a war against hristmas.I don't see anything wrong in acknowledging that there are other peoples with other holidays.. I think all references to Holidays should be left or government property,including CHanukah items
4 No..I wish them one back...
5 I think most people in this country are very much unaware of Jewish history .. How many people know that the Crusaders killd most of the Jews they encountered on the way to kill the muslims in the Holy Land.There were days when they killed upwords or 1 to 20,000 Jews in one .How many kids are taught about blood libel and pogroms. This stuff is important to EVERYONE not just Jews.. We need to learn form our mistakes..They also need to teach more about other genocides like Armenia, Cambodia, Somalia etc.

 

[belle_of_the_ball]

1 I think it's to be expected. There are far more Christians in this country than Jews

2 No not really..It's a minor festival.. I don't expect Mickeys Very Merry CHanukah party.. Passover ,Rosh HAshanah.Much bigger deals...I'd rather see Mickey's Very Merry Rosh Hashanah Party.
3 ,I don't think there is a war against hristmas.I don't see anything wrong in acknowledging that there are other peoples with other holidays.. I think all references to Holidays should be left or government property,including CHanukah items
4 No..I wish them one back...
5 I think most people in this country are very much unaware of Jewish history .. How many people know that the Crusaders killd most of the Jews they encountered on the way to kill the muslims in the Holy Land.There were days when they killed upwords or 1 to 20,000 Jews in one .How many kids are taught about blood libel and pogroms. This stuff is important to EVERYONE not just Jews.. We need to learn form our mistakes..They also need to teach more about other genocides like Armenia, Cambodia, Somalia etc.

we havent learned any of that...we just learned about the Jewish resistance in Rome...what they did was horrible. The last people ended up running up a cliff to run away...then jumping off to escape the Romans. They do need to teach more about genocide...its one of my many fights. Did you know there is genocide right now in Darfur. I spoke numerous times with the UN...wow have they done nothing...at any time!

JennyMominRI-thanks so much for your help!

 

[frndshpcptn]

1) how do you feel about Chritmas being the "head" winter holiday?

2) do you think Chanukah should be a bigger part in winter celebration?

3) what are your oppinions on the "war against christmas"

4) do you take offense to mentions of chritmas? (ie kids making christmas crafts in school or wishing you a merry chritmas)

5) What do you think of the teachings in school about important points in Jewish history? (the holocost and others)

thanks so much!

and a very happy Chanukah!

1) It's always been that way - there are far more non-Jewish people in this country than there are Jews.

2) This is a relatively minor holiday that gets a lot of attention because it falls near Christmas. I'm not sure how we should make it a bigger deal then it already is? If we were going to make anything a big deal - it should be the High Holy days or Passover. Hannukkah, for the most part, is celebrated the way it is now with presents and such to help Jewish children feel less like outsiders during the Christmas season.

3) I think this war on Chrismas is blown WAY out of proportion. At least, in NYC I see signs of Christmas alive and well everywhere I look (especially 5th Ave)

4) While I don't take offense to the mention of Christmas, it's nice to feel that my religion is also being included in the seasonal celebrations. It's interesting to note, that before this year, I thought a Christmas Tree and Nativity were equally important in the Christmas celebration. I saw no distinction between the two.

5) The Holocaust was taught in my school. I don't know enough about what is being taught now to coment on that intelligently. I would just point out that Jewish history intersects in a lot of places with non-Jewish history - so when you learn about one you can learn about the other.

Happy Hannukkah to you as well!

 

[BelleMcNally]

I, for one, would like to see Mickey's Very Somber Yom Kippur...

 

[JennyMominRI]

2:

I, for one, would like to see Mickey's Very Somber Yom Kippur...

 

[BelleMcNally]

1) how do you feel about Chritmas being the "head" winter holiday?

As others have stated, it makes sense that most of the people in this country celebrate Christmas because more people are Christian than any other religion.

2) do you think Chanukah should be a bigger part in winter celebration?
I don't know--I think the way this is done is by making it a sort of "Christmas-lite" which I don't agree with. The truth is, it's just not a huge part of the Jewish calendar, so I don't know how to make it bigger.

3) what are your oppinions on the "war against christmas"
I think it's ridiculous that anyone thinks Christian Ideals are under fire in this country. I haven't enlisted in any "War against Christmas", and when people in the media throw the term "war" around indiscriminantly while people are fighting and dying this holiday season, I find it even more ridiculous

4) do you take offense to mentions of chritmas? (ie kids making christmas crafts in school or wishing you a merry chritmas)
I don't take offense to mentions of Christmas, but in the American public school system, no child should have to feel bad because their entire class is busy making "Santa" crafts, and Santa may not come to their house, you know?

5) What do you think of the teachings in school about important points in Jewish history? (the holocost and others)
I would like to see more taught about the Jewish influence on society, rather than a litany of all of the terrible things that have befallen the Jews (not that those should be downplayed). But if all school-age children are being taught about Judaism in history/sociology has to do with Zionism and concentration camps, we have a slight problem...

 

[missypie]

I'm a Presbyterian...I wish someone would invite me over for latkes because I love them.

But I've never heard of donuts as a traditional Chanukah food. Is there any religious or cultural significance to it, or is it something that just started, like eggnog at Christmas?

 

[JennyMominRI]

I'm a Presbyterian...I wish someone would invite me over for latkes because I love them.

But I've never heard of donuts as a traditional Chanukah food. Is there any religious or cultural significance to it, or is it something that just started, like eggnog at Christmas?

They are fried... Ties back to the oil thing

 

[BelleMcNally]

Happy Hannukah everyone!

 

[marlasmom]

Jenny - would you share the recipe for apricot chicken. Thanks so much and have a wonderful holiday.

 

[flminivanmama]

We wanted to go to the Chabad party at Universal but my SIL nixed it b/c of the crowds... whaaah

we'll be at my in laws on the first 3 nights - brisket & latkes for the first night & I'm making a sephardic spinach patty recipe I found online.

last night we are having a big brunch new years day/last ay of hanukkah YAY!

 

[disneychrista]

We are not Jewish but we will "celebrate" Chanukah by lighting candles on the Monorah.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

DS was born on 12/26. We were hoping for a 12/25 birthday so we could eat Birthday cake after coming back from the movies

My DD was born on 12/24...if I only had a dollar for every time that I heard, "oh, a Christmas baby!" I'd be rich. I think that there's a law that states that only Jews can be born on Christmas eve since the only people I know born on that day are Jewish.

 

[gometros]

If you guys want to try something fun, last year at this time someone started a Chanukah thread to counteract all the Christmas decoration threads. It was a 'post your menorah' thread. I'll start by showing one I received as an award for some community work I had done.

 

[ford family]

As a comment about the difference in US versus UK cultural exposure; I'd never heard of Hannukah until I started frequenting these boards five years ago. My only exposure to Jewish customs was seeing the mother in Rhoda and the only Jewish person I ever worked with in the UK was notable because he had to go home early on Friday so he could get there before dark.
I'm not sure what this means. Is it because British Jews are a smaller group and better integrated so they are less noticable than their US counterparts? Or is it that they are mainly unintegrated and stick to their ghettoes so non Jews rarely come across them whereas, in the US, they are spread more evenly around the population?

ford family

 

[flminivanmama]

If you guys want to try something fun, last year at this time someone started a Chanukah thread to counteract all the Christmas decoration threads. It was a 'post your menorah' thread. [/IMG]

that's cool - we have a few

 

[ColoradoBuffaloMom]

My DD was born on 12/24...if I only had a dollar for every time that I heard, "oh, a Christmas baby!" I'd be rich. I think that there's a law that states that only Jews can be born on Christmas eve since the only people I know born on that day are Jewish.

My brother was born on December 22 in the 60's when moms stayed in the hospital for more than a day like now. On Christmas Day, the nurse brought my brother to my mom in a Christmas Stocking even though we are Jewish. We still get such a kick out of that.

 

[JennyMominRI]

Jenny - would you share the recipe for apricot chicken. Thanks so much and have a wonderful holiday.

Here you go

Chicken, Apricot I (M, TNT)
Source: Self
Serves: 8
2 chickens cut into eighths
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
3/4 cup orange marmalade
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup dried apricots
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins

Sprinkle the spices on the chicken. Mix the juices together with the marmalade and bake for 20 minutes at 350°F, uncovered.

Add the rest, pushing the brown sugar down into the liquid to dissolve and placing the apricots under the pieces of chicken.

Bake for 45 minutes uncovered, then cover and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Posted by Helaine Ring