Invite my 43 friends to join me in a Chanukah celebration from December 15th to December 22nd.

And I learned a whole bunch. I hope we do this next year, too!

It was nice to be aware of the days of Chanukah and keep track of them.

in Tahoe. It was strange being away for this holiday. We had our party really early (Dec 9) so I feel like I really missed the whole season. But I’m glad I was able to share it with you all.

If you’re interested in checking it out, here’s the Story of Channukah.

Happy Holidays!

thank you SEGSID for starting it, and thank you to everyone for participating!

Because of school, I’m living alone, 400 miles from my family, and this brightened the holiday more than I can say. I’d come home really, really tired, and there would be little messages about Chanukah waiting for me… or, even moreso, after my internship I’d stop at a coffee shop up in the Valley because the traffic was so bad it was hours to get home. No point in getting on the freeway, but it was lonesome to be sitting in Starbucks. And yes, there is studying to do but sometimes one wants company, especially during a holiday.

So thank you all for your Chanukah gift of presence!

May we all carry the spirit of those little lights and their hope into the rest of the winter.

It’s dark outside, Hanukka has ended.
This was a lot of fun, thank you everybody!

Since we had friends over for candle #6, we lit that candle for friends and family. And #7, we lit for beauty.

We have just tonight left.

Here’s the dream I had last night. Your comments appreciated.

I am pulling my bike off of the bus. There are two other bikes coming off the rack. It’s at 2nd and Pike, in downtown Seattle at the top of the hill.

My bike is a fixie—in other words, there’s only one gear, and unlike a bike with a freewheel, you can’t coast. The faster you go, the faster your feet go around on the pedals. This bike also has no brake.

I’m coming down 2nd Ave, which is a relatively gentle slope, but by the time I’m at about Union Street, the setting in the dream shifts, and now I’m coming down Madison. I don’t know how steep Madison is in real life—maybe a 15% grade? However, unlike the usual skyscrapers that line Madison Street in real life, everything is under construction. There’s piles of mud and dirt by the sides of the road, and I drag my feet through the dirt to try to slow the bike, which is going pell-mell down the hill.

Rather than turn right, which is what I’d normally do to get to my office building at work, I turn left, and go into a building where there is an enormous Chanukah party going on. The decorations are not what you’d think of as being typically Jewish. They are very busy and tropical, with warm and vibrant colors. At this point, the bike is gone, and I’m in the bar, which is sort of in a “tiki” style. The place is jammed with people and decorations, and they’re playing traditional Jewish melodies, but in some sort of souped-up way, the way they soup up Christmas carols. I start to sing along, but I notice that some people are sneering at me or looking at me in distain. I immediately clam up, and then pretend the same distain that they have. But while I do this, I notice that most the people at the bar are subtlely dancing to the music, or at least swaying their hips in time to the beat.

I leave the bar, and go into a place where there’s going to be some sort of religious observance for Chanukah. This place is also a riot of color and tropical decoration. The people who are supposed to be supporting the service are dressed up in fanciful ways (think of maybe Carnival in Rio), including one that has Christmas iconography (Santa, Xmas tree) integrated into her costume.

One of these people has items on a tray, sort of how we pass out cups of wine at Kiddush after services. But the tray doesn’t have wine—it has polished black stones. I am not offered a stone, but I think I’d like to have one. So I decide I will approach one of these officients for one.

And then I wake up.

The big public hanukkiah in the garden at the Home is a bit of a project to light, I discovered tonight. I had to climb up on a bench to turn the little switches on the electric “flames”. A small crowd of residents gathered around to watch me, teetering on the bench with a prayer book in hand, saying the blessings and twisting the eight switches (shamash + seven candles).

“Be careful, rabbi!” the chorus went up, as I went to step down.

“We don’t have any extra wheelchairs!” one wisenheimer called out. Everyone laughed, and I stepped safely back to the ground.

they hung so many little light bulbs in the center of the city, and you can see all the Hanukkiyot from the windows. I wish I had my camera with me.

By day 6 those candles start getting HOT! I melted a bit of my vinyl window last night! Fortunately we noticed the burning plastic smell before things got tooo out of hand, but I’ll have an all year round memorial to the Festival of Lights from now on!