I was invited by Bernie from Needle & Foot to join in her Holiday Tales & Traditions Blog Hop. Be sure you visit the other participating bloggers listed below to read about their holidays.
Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, is a minor Jewish holiday. The traditional story is that in response to the suppression of their religion, Jews rose up and rebelled, eventually taking back control of their land and re-sanctifying the Temple in Jerusalem. The legend is that when the Temple was re-sanctified, there was only enough oil to burn for one day, but the oil miraculously lasted eight days, just long enough to resupply the Temple. This "miracle of the oil" brings us to our traditions of lighting candles for eight nights and eating fried foods.
My favorite part of the holiday is the lighting of the hanukkiah (often mistakenly called a menorah). This is done nightly for 8 nights. As a family, we light the candles while singing the Hanukkah blessings. These two photos are from the 6th night, yesterday evening. The kids are each holding a shamash (a helper candle), used to light the candles in the hanukkiah. The first photo above was taken at a community celebration years ago, a lovely event where we typically come together for lighting the candles and celebrating at our synagogue.
One of the by-products of being at home 24/7 for 9 months is that my husband has started to cook more often, developing a wider repertoire of skills in the kitchen. Saturday evening he made latkes from scratch for the first time. They were delicious and perfect! (I like mine with sour cream and applesauce.)
Thanks for visiting. Happy Holidays! I wish you a safe and happy season.
Hop over to read about the holiday memories from these other quilt bloggers:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Preeti
Once upon a time, very long ago, I was dating a Jewish guy. I tried to make latkes to impress him. I say tried because they were awful. But my rugelach was "as good as the best I have ever tasted" he said. Reading this post reminded me of those memories. I never attempted latkes again but make rugelach (about once every two years) which my FIL calls "Jew Cookie" cause he cannot say rugelach :-)
Have a Happy Holiday season, Sarah.
sarah
Post authorThey are tricky and they're a lot of work! I've only made them from scratch a couple times. Thanks for visiting, Preeti!
Wendy
There is nothing prettier than candlelight, I think. It gives off such a feeling of coziness and warmth and hope. Thank you for sharing your memories with us. I've never had latke, but it looks delicious!
sarah
Post authorI mean, anything made out of potato is pretty darn good, right!? It's very captivating to watch the candles burn. The kids really like watching them burn out.
Carole @ From My Carolina Home
Thank you for sharing your tradition! The latkes look yummy!
sarah
Post authorThank you, Carole!
Bernie
Sarah, Thank you for sharing your traditions. I didn't know menorah was an incorrect term - I learned something! My DIL is Jewish and she and my son made Latkes the other day - they looked sooo good. Our family is all about texting pictures of our meals back and forth. What can I say? They are in Brooklyn so it keeps us more connected. :-)
sarah
Post authorTexting pictures is a great way to connect. :-) Menorah is very commonly used, even by Jewish folks. It's different from what we use for Hanukkah, with only seven lights. Thanks for hosting the blog hop, Bernie!
Mari
We live in a Jewish neighborhood, next door to the rabbi, and have been enjoying the candles and lights we see in our neighbor's windows. I hope they enjoy our lights too! Best wishes for some happy family times, and a better 2021.
sarah
Post authorThat sounds lovely. Thank you for sharing, Mari.
Ellyn
thank you for sharing your beautiful traditions. I learned some new things!
sarah
Post authorThank you, Ellyn. Happy to share. :-)
Kathleen McCormick
Love the lights of Hanukkah and wonderful that your husband has taken up cooking! That is a really good outcome from this time!
sarah
Post authorThere are certainly some silver linings to the dark cloud of 2020. Thanks for visiting, Kathleen.
Quiltdivajulie
I didn't know that 'menorah' was the wrong term - I stand corrected! Candle light is just magical - I love that photo with so many lit candles glowing.
sarah
Post authorIt's a widely-used wrong term. :-) Thank you for visiting, Julie.
Leanne Parsons
I did not realize menorah is not the correct term, so I learned something new today :) Thank you for sharing! I loved the picture of your kids' hands lighting the candles. It looks like a sweet, homey kind of moment.
sarah
Post authorA lot of people use the word menorah. ;-) Sweet and homey is a good description of Hanukkah. Tonight we'll enjoy jelly doughnuts as a substitution for traditional sufganiyot. Thanks for visiting, Leanne.
Kathleen McCormick
I love that candelight of Hannakuh and the beautiful traditions surrounding families celebrating holidays. We have very good friends who are Jewish and I have been privileged to be at many celebrations with them. I have never seen so many hanukkiah lit at one time. Stunning.
sarah
Post authorThank you, Kathleen. I think our record is around 120.
Anja @ Anja Quilts
Thanks for sharing. Very interesting.
sarah
Post authorThanks for visiting!
Danice
Thank you so much for sharing Hanukkah traditions. Your decor is awesome, too.
sarah
Post authorThank you, Danice.
Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty
I love that top picture, Sarah! Sure, it's a beauty to look at, but it also makes a statement about the importance -- and impact -- of your faith family and celebrating together.
sarah
Post authorThank you, Michelle. While most of my communities have pivoted to some amount of online/Zoom interaction, I am really missing some special, in-person moments.