On the First Night of Chanukah...Be a Light in Darkness

Above is my lit Chanukah menorah, traditionally placed in a window so as to bring light to the darkness.

Tonight is the first night of Chanukah, which corresponds to the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev (also the date corresponding to my birth!), and in honor of this joyous 8-night long celebration, I will bring 8 Crazy Nights to my blog!
If you have an interest in a more detailed description of the story, meaning, and traditions behind this holiday, feel free to visit this website. In a nutshell, Chanukah is a celebration of light in darkness. In this, the darkest time of the year, Jews remember the strength and courage displayed by a small group of Jews against the Greek rulers of the time who wanted to forbid Jews to practice and learn Torah. I feel that in the same way killing a person destroys their body, forbidding education and spiritual practice kills their soul. We live in a world even today in which there are places such oppression still exists. During Chanukah, Jews recall not only the miracle of the Jewish victory over the Greeks, but also the miracle of the oil that was recovered in the ruins of the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple), that although should only have lasted one night in order to light the menorah, lasted for 8 nights, providing enough time to produce more.
The Chanukah menorah is a symbol of light in this dark time of year, and in a world that has its own aspects of darkness year-round, humankind is very much like a menorah. We are all granted with an opportunity and responsibility to shed light onto darkness, and to allow for even the smallest amount of light to shine and prevail over the greatest darkness.

Now I will share with you a few of my favorite ways to bring light into my home this time of year:

• Pandora Radio now has a station devoted to Chanukah music! Click here to give it a listen!
• You may or may not know about my love of the Itche Kadoozy videos on the chabad.org website. For your viewing pleasure, here is Part I of the Itche Kadoozy Chanukah Mini-series--enjoy!
  
• There are many recipes out there for making latkes (fried potato pancakes, one traditional food eaten at Chanukah). There are even recipes for making variations on potato latkes, which I may post another night. My favorite traditional potato latke recipe is the following:

Ingredients:
6 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and grated*
1 yellow onion, peeled and grated*
4 eggs
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
oil for frying


*You can save time, energy and tears by popping the potatoes & onion into a blender or food processor after peeling them instead of hand grating the the ingredients.

Directions: In a bowl, combine potatoes, onion, eggs, salt & pepper, and stir to mix. Heat about 1 inch of oil in a frying pan. Drop the mixture into the pan in heaping spoon-fulls. Flip over the latkes when the first side is golden and fry on the second side until it is golden. Remove latkes and drain on paper towels. Serve hot with sour cream and or applesauce.

Now that the first of these 8 Crazy Nights is drawing to a close, I shall leave you with wishes for warmth and brightness in your home, and this photo of a zebra who's Chanukah outfit is way cooler than the menorah socks I am wearing.
(HINT: can you find the shape of a menorah in the zebra's stripes?)