This is a wonderful piece on Chanukah from a secular perspective, particularly the 8 Reasons. But I must say that I have never liked the 8 days of gifts for Chanukah. It is Christmas-like rather than focusing on the history of the holiday which might better include 8 days of storytelling about the history and myths of the holiday.
I was raised by Orthodox parents and extended family who escaped from Germany in the late 30s. We celebrated Chanukah with 1 non-cultural gift and the rest of the days with great food, singing, and winning/losing lots of chocolate coins [Kosher, of course ;)]. That was the way our tradition even as I became secular for my children.
The new tradition for my wife (who was raised as Catholic) and I now that we live in New Mexico is to make Chanukah Menorah outdoors using farolitas (aka luminarias) which is a Mexican tradition of lining a path with candles put inside a small paper bag weighted by sand. I really my Chanukah public so even more important to me these days.
Question about section 3: Maps. Please explain the sentence “The hilly roads into Jerusalem are almost as contested, with uncanny parallels between what the Jews did to the Seleucids in 166 BCE to what the Palestinian Arabs did to the Jews in 1947.”
What happened to Jews by Palestinians Arabs in 1947 please?
Hi Debra, in the 1947-48 war, Arab paramilitary forces and then the Jordanian army controlled the high ground above the roads from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, making it extremely difficult for the fledgling Israeli state to supply its people in Jerusalem from the coast (until they built a bypass road, more info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma_Road_(Israel) ). It was similar to what the Maccabees did to the invading Seleucids, in the same hills.
This is a wonderful piece on Chanukah from a secular perspective, particularly the 8 Reasons. But I must say that I have never liked the 8 days of gifts for Chanukah. It is Christmas-like rather than focusing on the history of the holiday which might better include 8 days of storytelling about the history and myths of the holiday.
I was raised by Orthodox parents and extended family who escaped from Germany in the late 30s. We celebrated Chanukah with 1 non-cultural gift and the rest of the days with great food, singing, and winning/losing lots of chocolate coins [Kosher, of course ;)]. That was the way our tradition even as I became secular for my children.
The new tradition for my wife (who was raised as Catholic) and I now that we live in New Mexico is to make Chanukah Menorah outdoors using farolitas (aka luminarias) which is a Mexican tradition of lining a path with candles put inside a small paper bag weighted by sand. I really my Chanukah public so even more important to me these days.
Question about section 3: Maps. Please explain the sentence “The hilly roads into Jerusalem are almost as contested, with uncanny parallels between what the Jews did to the Seleucids in 166 BCE to what the Palestinian Arabs did to the Jews in 1947.”
What happened to Jews by Palestinians Arabs in 1947 please?
Hi Debra, in the 1947-48 war, Arab paramilitary forces and then the Jordanian army controlled the high ground above the roads from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, making it extremely difficult for the fledgling Israeli state to supply its people in Jerusalem from the coast (until they built a bypass road, more info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma_Road_(Israel) ). It was similar to what the Maccabees did to the invading Seleucids, in the same hills.