Jewish News Supplement - Hanukkah (November 2023) by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater

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HA PPY HA NU KKA H Dear Readers, Less than one month away, I’m not sure Hanukkah can come soon enough. Won’t it be wonderful to celebrate some light? Israel’s war with Hamas and all the pain and strife it has inflicted around the globe and into our own families’ and students’ conversation battles, along with the early darkness that is brought on each evening by leaving Daylight Savings Time, mean the lights of our hanukkiahs, the silly songs, and the festive foods are bound to bring some cease-fire to our tensions. So, as we begin to plan for the holiday by purchasing gifts, gathering to light Hanukkah candles, and talking about Judah and the Maccabees, we’ve asked several locals who are known for their culinary and/or hosting abilities to share some of their secrets and recipes for preparing traditional, and even some not-so-traditional, fare for the holiday. Check out their suggestions beginning on the next page. For a very different twist, Eitan Altshuler of the Cardo Café/Humusiya, suggests trying a Spanish treat for the holiday as an alternative for sufganiyot. His thoughts on Israel, the holiday, and leches fritta are on page 24. Rabbi Israel Zoberman shares a Torah Thought on Hanukkah, its timeless

tale, and how it relates to wars today in Israel and Ukraine. Page 31. This section is packed with articles, including stories about how the holiday was celebrated around the world last year, how one Jewish organization got around a hotel’s fire rules to light the Hanukkiah, and more. While not in this section, remember that Jewish Family Service is collecting Hanukkah gifts for children and teens through Monday, Nov. 27. For more information, call 757-459-4640. The lighting of the first candle is on Thursday, Dec. 7 at nightfall. Sing a song, spin a dreidel, and indulge in something prepared in oil. And hug your families and friends. Chag Sameach! Happy Hanukkah!

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COOKING FOR HANUKKAH J Stephanie Peck oy is an integral Hanukkah ingredient. The festive, non-religious Jewish holiday celebrates and commemorates the miraculous events experienced by the Maccabees and reminds Jews of the continual fight for religious freedom – a struggle that seems particularly relevant now. Candle lighting, dreidel spinning, and gift-giving excite children of all

Frozen dough works wonders Shari Berman Shari Berman loves a good short cut. When preparing her jelly doughnuts, or sufganiyot, for example, she buys Rhodes frozen dinner rolls (found at Walmart and Wegman’s) instead of making her own dough. The rolls are pareve, egg-free, and allergen-friendly, allowing those with various dietary needs to indulge. Unlike Krispy Kreme donuts, which are dairy, Berman’s recipe can be served with a meat meal. She simply follows the instructions on the back of the package, deep-fries the dough, and then “injects” each donut with grape or seedless raspberry jelly by using a piping bag with a cream puff nozzle. A medical syringe, Berman notes, works great, too. To achieve the effect of a donut hole, Berman uses half of a roll. The finished treat is served with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

A quick tip from mom Anna Fox Burnette

Nix on grating potatoes Alicia Friedman “Skip the grating of the potatoes and buy frozen hashbrowns,” suggests Alicia Friedman. She adapts a recipe from Once Upon a Chef, which provides instructions for both the stovetop and oven method. Friedman bakes her latkes in oil rather than pan-frying them. “They are so simple and delicious.”

As a Jewish family in the South, Burnette and her three siblings were often the only Jewish kids in elementary school. It was up to her mother, then, to go to school to tell the Hanukkah story, make latkes, and share traditions. Burnette’s mother would hand-grate the potatoes and onions for latkes at least one night during Hanukkah. Her mother soon developed a short cut that is just as tasty but sheds the time from start to eat. The “recipe” is built on texture but can be adapted and adjusted as needed.

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ages, and the smells of latkes and sufganiyot combine to create a warm and fragrant environment. But those in the kitchen, leaning over the hot oil, may not feel so celebratory! Jewish News asked a variety of locals known for their culinary skills to share some fool-proof suggestions to make preparation of some Hanukkah favorites a bit easier.

Keep them small Robin and Burle Stromberg

“We make sure the potatoes are dry, and the oil is very hot, before placing them in the pan to fry,” says Robin and Burle Stromberg. The couple also prepares small latkes, so the latke is cooked in the middle. At their Hanukkah meal, the latkes are served piping hot. “I enjoy every minute of it, “says Burle, “except ‘de-oiling’ our kitchen afterwards.”

Latkes Ingredients • 1 package of frozen shredded hashbrowns (not seasoned) • 1 small package frozen diced onions (optional) • salt • corn starch • 2 eggs Directions 1. Scramble two eggs in the bottom of a bowl, add in 1/2 - 1 tsp of salt. 2. Throw in thawed frozen potatoes and onions if using, then add in corn starch until the mixture is “doughy.” 3. Mix well and drop small

handfuls into hot oil in the pan. 4. Cook 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown. As the mixture sits and the salt releases some of the moisture from the onions and potatoes, it may be necessary to drain the liquid, add more corn starch and squeeze the excess moisture out before putting it into the pan to ensure the latkes come out crispy. 5. Remove cooked latkes to a cookie sheet and store in a 250-degree oven to keep warm and crispy until ready to eat. Top with applesauce, sour cream, or a vinegar-based cabbage, scallion, and celery slaw.

HA PPY HA NU KKA H Sufganiyot by another name are delicious all year Linda Peck and Nancy Peck Mother and daughter, Nancy and Linda Peck, share their recipe for sufganiyot. While they call them ‘sufganiyot’ during Hanukkah, they make them throughout the year as ‘pop ups,’ which are a thinner version of the New Orleans beignets. Although sufganiyot are traditionally filled with jelly, the Pecks do not fill theirs. “The sufganiyot are simply delicious plain!”

Sufganiyot Ingredients • 2 cups milk (can use Dairy Rich for pareve) • 1 cup sugar • 2 teaspoons salt • 1 stick butter (margarine for pareve) • 1 stick margarine • 2 egg • 2 tablespoons of dry yeast • 1/2 cup warm water

A homemade topping Sharon Goretsky When asked for a fool-proof Hanukkah recipe, Sharon Goretsky shared her homemade, crockpot applesauce.

Applesauce Ingredients • 8 medium apples (I use a combination of apples: Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious)

• 8 cups all-purpose flour • Oil for frying Directions Dough 1. Scald milk; stir in sugar, salt, butter and margarine; let stand until lukewarm. 2. In large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. 3. Once yeast is bubbly, add to the lukewarm milk mixture. 4. Add beaten eggs and then incorporate 4 cups flour. Mix well; slowly add remaining flour until dough does not stick to your hands. 5. Cover bowl tightly with silver foil or plastic wrap. Place in a warmish spot to rise for approximately 2-3 hours. Alternatively, the dough can rise in the refrigerator overnight, but it must be brought to room temperature before using the next morning.

squares (no one will complain if they are not perfect!) 3. Drop dough into hot oil. If oil is hot enough, the dough will immediately “pop up.” When brown on one side, use slotted spoon to turn over and brown the other side. Note: It might be necessary to turn the heat down if they brown too quickly. 4. Remove sufganiyot and drain on brown paper bag or paper towels. 5. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. 6. Serve and enjoy.

Betsy Karotkin For Hanukkah, I use a dreidel, star, Hanukkiah, Maccabee, etc. for the cookie cutters.

Betsy’s Sugar Cookies (for cutouts) Ingredients • 2 ½ cups sifted flour • 1 ½ cups sugar, sifted • ½ t salt • 1 cup butter (I use Smart Balance for ½) • 1 egg beaten • 2 tablespoon milk • 2 teaspoon vanilla

To make sufganiyot: 1. Bring about 2 ½” of oil in a wide fry pan (cast iron is excellent) to 370°. Test to see if the oil is hot enough by dropping a speck of water into the hot oil. If it pops, the oil is ready. 2. Roll pieces of the dough to ¼” thickness and cut into 2”

• 1 strip of lemon peel • 1 teaspoon lemon juice • 3 cinnamon stick • 5 teaspoons light brown sugar (I use brown sugar Splenda)

Cookies in Hanukkah shapes

Directions 1. Sift flour, sugar, and salt. 2. Cut in butter. Add milk, egg, and vanilla and mix. 3. Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour. 4. Roll out on floured board and use cookie cutters for shapes. 5. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. 6. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes or until lightly browned.

Directions 1. Peel, core, and slice the apples. 2. Place the apples in the slow cooker. 3. Add the cinnamon stick, lemon peel, lemon juice, and brown sugar. 4. Set crockpot to low and cook for 6 hours. 5. Stir apples occasionally; apples will slowly cook down. 6. Remove the cinnamon sticks. 7. Use an immersion blender at the end if a smooth sauce is preferred. jewishnewsva.org | November 13, 2023 | JEWISH NEWS | 21

HA PPY HA NU KKA H How Jewish studies scholars navigated Jewish law and fire-code rules to save Hanukkah at their conference Philissa Cramer (JTA) — The email landed like a batch of soggy latkes last year: Hanukkah candle-lighting would not be permitted at the annual conference of the Association for Jewish Studies. “We recognize the sacrifice many of you will make to attend the conference during the holiday of Chanukah. We apologize that the conference hotel will not allow us to light candles in a separate room, as we have done in the past,” the professional group for Jewish studies scholars said in a message to its members, of whom approximately 1,200 were expected at last year’s convening in Boston. Thus began a MacGyverlike scramble by some of the country’s leading Jewish studies scholars to hack a Hanukkah solution that would comply with both halacha, Jewish law, and the Sheraton Boston’s interpretation of Massachusetts fire code. At first, the scholarly group directed conference-goers to details about a Hanukkah celebration at a nearby synagogue where menorahs could be lit, at least on the first night of the holiday. But that was little consolation for those whose personal practice of Judaism is rooted in traditional Jewish law — which says the Hanukkah menorah must be lit in the place one eats and sleeps. Some conference attendees said they would rely on Jewish law’s provision for travelers, which says someone on the road can be considered as having fulfilled the commandment to ignite a Hanukkah light if his family at home does so. But not everyone at the conference has a family, and even some who do were unsatisfied with that option. Electric menorahs offered another possibility. After all, such devices are frequently found in hotels and other public spaces, and Chabad, the Orthodox denomination, sometimes uses them in its famous public Hanukkah celebrations, last year scheduled for more than 15,000 locations around the world. But the use of oil wicks or, in the last few centuries, wax candles that offer a similar experience is considered preferable, according to many interpreters of Jewish law; Chabad says electric menorahs are ideal for symbolic use, not to fulfill the mandates of Jewish law. On Facebook and over email, anger was expressed. Impractical suggestions for the conference to relocate were made. And fear mounted that some conference-goers would smuggle 22 | JEWISH NEWS | November 13, 2023 | jewishnewsva.org

HA PPY HA NU KKA H in contraband menorahs and light them in their hotel rooms. “You can’t stop people from breaking the rules, and it’s certainly much less safe to have that than something being watched,” says Joshua Shanes, a historian at the College of Charleston who was part of the behind-the-scenes scramble. Finally, on Friday morning, with some scholars already Boston-bound, Laura Arnold Leibman, a professor at Reed College and a member of the AJS board, announced a solution. “We were able to negotiate with the hotel what I am referring to as the ‘Kaplan-Shanes compr[om]ise’ this morning that should allow for a halachic solution to the candle lighting situation (see details below), and I was able to get a beautiful hanukkiah this morning from the Israel Bookstore in Brookline that will meet the fire code,” she wrote on Facebook, to plaudits from association members. Under the plan, a single Hanukkah lamp can be lit, under supervision, at the hotel. But each candle must be contained within a glass enclosure with at least 2 inches of space above the flame — so Leibman bought glass votives used to hold yahrzeit memorial candles, as well as a massive menorah to which they could be affixed. “This was the only Hanukkiah I could find in Brookline large enough to handle them [and] will clean them up before Sunday and glue them down for safety to the inserts,” Leibman wrote alongside pictures of the brass menorah on her hotel windowsill. That solved the problem of the flames themselves. But what of the obligation to light, which under traditional Jewish law each household must fulfill individually? Enter the “Kaplan” of the compromise: Lawrence Kaplan, a professor of Judaic and rabbinic philosophy at McGill University who is perhaps best known for compiling and editing the teachings of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik of the philosophy of Maimonides, the 12th-century Jewish philosopher. Kaplan wrote on Facebook that he had consulted Rabbi Daniel Fridman, the rabbi of the Teaneck Jewish Center and the top rabbi at the Torah Academy of Bergen County, for a way to have a single conference-goer fulfill the mitzvah of lighting a Hanukkah lamp on behalf of others. He learned that a contribution of a penny (or more) could enable someone to buy into the mitzvah — so a bowl for coins will sit aside the jerry-rigged menorah. “I really appreciate the effort and expense to which you went,” Kaplan wrote on Liebman’s Facebook post. “It was easy for me to suggest the idea, but it was you who transformed it into a reality.” Now, the discussion has shifted to whether contributions in excess of a penny can be turned into donations to the Association for Jewish Studies — and what can be done to prevent such a snafu in the future. This year’s conference in San Francisco starts after the holiday ends, and the 2024 conference will be online-only. But in 2025, the first day of the conference again corresponds with the first night of Hanukkah. Shanes and Liebman both indicated that they expected the right to light candles to be written into the contract with any future conference host, marking a return to the old custom of having conference-goers light candles on their own schedule. “At least for this year,” Shanes said, “we’re all coming together. It’s a silver lining I suppose.”

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HA PPY HA NU KKA H Wishes you and your family a Hanukkah filled with love & light!

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Cohen Investment Group is a relationship-driven, trusted multifamily and self-storage owner and operator. We are committed to our investors’ success by delivering attractive institutional real estate investment opportunities while providing diligent reporting, transparency, and accountability. Cohen Investment Group 2809 S. Lynnhaven Rd., Suite 100 Virginia Beach, VA 23452 (757) 490-1193 www.coheninvestmentgrp.com Eitan Altshuler ou’ve probably heard the saying, “They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat.” But have you heard the saying, which is true only on Tisha B’Av, “They tried to kill us, they won, let’s not eat!?” In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Israel, I definitely felt the latter. For the first time in my life, I feel a deep uneasiness about the security of Israel and its people. While it is hard going on with daily life, what choice is there? When I ask my fellow Jews how they’re doing, I rarely hear, “I’m great!” Rather, it’s more like an unsaid, but understood, “You know…” with a certain shrug of the shoulders. It has been upsetting to see the hostility towards Israel and Jews in the streets of American and European cities and universities. I try to remind myself that these antagonists don’t represent everyone; nonetheless, it feels so isolating when one needs to argue, what should be, the obvious. In any case, Hanukkah is coming. As history repeats itself, Jewish people again have to defend themselves, by themselves… against the odds. Thus, with the timing of the holiday and the war in Israel, I hope that Hanukkah will bring some encouragement to all Jews. Let’s remember the miracle of Hanukkah by eating a little shtickle of fried awesomeness. During these eight days, try to eat more than latkes and sufganiot. May I recommend a Spanish recipe called Leches Fritta? Unlike other Hanukkah recipes, this recipe is shallow fried, rather than deep fried, in an oil/butter combination. Prepare the sweet milk filling a day in advance and have space in the refrigerator for it to thicken. There are many online recipes; add your own creative touches to the flavoring or coating once they are finished. I like a little cherry jam with mine. Consider these fried treats as extended gifts from our ancestors to give us strength. Chag Sameach and B’tai Avon!

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HA PPY HA NU KKA H

Eight snapshots of Hanukkah celebrations from around the world from 2022 Jackie Hajenberg (JTA) — Hanukkah may be considered a “minor holiday,” as rabbis will say, but its resonance and unique traditions offer a great window into Jewish communities around the world. We’ve rounded up eight examples, one for each candle of the menorah, that give

a snapshot into how Jews — and, in a couple instances, how a few notable non-Jews — celebrated the festival of lights last year, from Chile to Ukraine to Taiwan. Perhaps some will serve as inspirations for a different type of Hanukkah celebration in Tidewater. There’s still time to prepare as Hanukkah begins on the evening of Thursday, Dec. 7.

Tel Aviv, Israel North Miami Beach-based artist Yitzchok Kasowitz claims that his Lego menorah at the Lego Store in Dizengoff Center, built with around 130,000 pieces, is the largest of its kind. According to the Times of Israel, it took a group of “Lego experts” just two marathon days to put it together.

Kharkiv, Ukraine Most of the Jews of Kharkiv, formerly one of Ukraine’s hubs of Jewish life, are believed to have left since the start of the Russian war in February last year. But residents of the city in northeastern Ukraine found some respite at the Kharkiv Choral Synagogue, where, in an event led by a local chapter of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, participants made wax candles, wrapped tefillin, and ate latkes with applesauce.

Taipei, Taiwan In the weeks preceding Hanukkah, members of the Taiwan Jewish Community in Taipei headed to the Yingge district — an area famous for its production of ceramics — to shape and fire their own menorahs in what has become an annual tradition. The menorahs were then used to ring in the first night of Hanukkah. 26 | JEWISH NEWS | November 13, 2023 | jewishnewsva.org

Mumbai, India Mumbai’s Jewish community, led by the Chabad of Mumbai, lit a large menorah at the Gateway of India, an early 20th century monument in the shape of an archway. After the candles were lit, guests were treated to a Hanukkah performance from students at the local Jewish school, featuring dancing and plastic swords. About 5,000 Jews live in Mumbai today. “The gateway to India was closed entirely except for Jews for the celebration,” says Aaron Torop Budman, who attended. “We were lighting the menorah, commemorating when the Greeks were thrown out, at the place where the last British military left the country.” Madeline Torop Budman and Aaron Torop Budman in Mumbai

Helena, Montana For the first time since 1934, the Jewish community of Helena celebrated Hanukkah at Temple Emanu-El, the state’s first synagogue, after a months-long effort to buy back the building from the Catholic Diocese. The interfaith event was attended by nearly 150 guests, who enjoyed a (much smaller) menorah lighting, latkes, a photo booth, arts and crafts, and dreidel-playing. It was the first time in nearly 90 years that Hanukkah lights shone from this building.

HA PPY HA NU KKA H Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and São Paulo

Santiago, Chile Image courtesy of Aish of the Rockies.

Public Hanukkah candle lighting ceremonies took place in Brazil’s two most populous cities, where hundreds of people gathered to watch and the ceremonies were televised. Brazil’s first lady Michelle Bolsonaro posted a photo of a menorah and a bible in front of Brazilian and Israeli flags on her Instagram account, which received more than 420,000 likes. Her caption included the blessing for the Hanukkah candles in Hebrew.

Denver, Colorado The Denver chapter of NCSY, the Orthodox Union’s youth group, unveiled a Lego menorah that was built by more than 425 teens and constructed from 25,000 Lego bricks. Standing at more than 24 and a half feet tall, Denver NCSY’s leader, Rabbi Yonatan Nuszen, claims it is the largest Lego menorah in the world. The menorah was taken apart and the bricks were donated to children in foster care in the United States and in Israel. Another Lego menorah, though, claims it deserves the title of the largest in the world — this one, in Israel.

Chile’s far-left president Gabriel Boric has a complicated relationship with most of his country’s Jewish community, and he sparked a minor diplomatic crisis with Israel last September when he rebuffed the credentials of an Israeli envoy. But on the Friday before Hanukkah, he attended his first official candle-lighting ceremony as president, in what has become a tradition at the La Moneda presidential palace for the last 14 years. Speaking on Boric’s behalf, Chile’s Secretary General Ana Lya Uriarte said, “This celebration reassures the right that everyone has to practice their faith anywhere, anytime. Lighting these candles means illuminating us during easy and hard times.”

Jordyn Haime contributed to this article.

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HA PPY HA NU KKA H The ‘Hanukkah House’ in Brooklyn is a family tradition and a neighborhood treasure Julia Gergely (New York Jewish Week) — Hanukkah, the winter holiday that commemorates the triumph of Judah Maccabee and the miracle of long-lasting oil, has plenty of heroes to celebrate. But in one Brooklyn family’s home, the hero is the “Hanukkah Fairy” — or at least the mom behind it. Starting some 25 years ago, Gail Nalven Fuchs and her husband, David Fuchs, stayed up late the night before Hanukkah began to completely decorate the interior of their Midwood house in tinsel, dreidels, and blue and white decor. When their two kids awoke wide-eyed at the wonder, the Fuchs explained that the Hanukkah Fairy, who came to decorate and spread the light and joy of the holiday, had paid their house a visit. Over the years, what began as a lark has grown into a grand tradition: These days, eye-catching, illuminated Hanukkah decorations can be found on the home’s exterior and front lawn, too, including an oversized menorah, Jewish stars, and inflatables, such as a giant teddy bear wearing a Hanukkah sweater and a spinning dreidel. The “Hanukkah House,” as it is locally known, is now a bona fide neighborhood treasure, attracting neighbors, visitors, and children from around Brooklyn. The tradition of Hanukkah decorating started in 1997 when the Fuchs’ kids, Alyson

HA PPY HA NU KKA H and Harrison, were seven and five. It was one of the family’s favorite holiday traditions to drive through the neighborhoods of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, where family homes have been bedazzled with over-the-top lights and Christmas decorations since the 1980s. “Isn’t Hanukkah called the Festival of Lights?” her son, Harrison — a playwright whose A Hanukkah Carol, or GELT TRIP! The Musical, a Jewish take on Charles Dickens’ Christmas classic, played at The Green Room in Manhattan — asked one year as they drove through Sheepshead Bay. Fuchs confirmed it was. “Then why don’t I see any Hanukkah lights?” he asked. “Everything is Christmas themed.” Fuchs tried to explain to her son that even though the lights are Christmas themed, they are for everyone to enjoy. “He said, ‘I would enjoy it so much more ifw I saw something that I know about. I don’t know about Christmas,’” she recalls. It was a moment of realization for Fuchs. “New Yorkers always say we live in a melting pot,” she tells the New York Jewish Week. “It didn’t feel that way at Christmastime.” In response to Harrison’s questions, she helped him pen a letter to the New York Post. “It’s very hard to be a five-year-old Jewish boy at this time of year,” the letter, which was published in 1997, opens. “I get very sad when I am driving the car in Brooklyn, and I look at all the lights and decorations hanging across the avenues.” Harrison then goes on to request more Hanukkah decorations in the years to come. The next year, a few weeks before Hanukkah, someone from the New York Post called to let Fuchs and her family know that there would be a large public menorah on Avenue U — sure enough, there it was. “We drove by, and Harrison was so excited. He went home and drew the

menorah with paint, and we hung it on our wall, and he would look at it every day.” Seeing how happy her kids were when they saw their holiday represented, Fuchs decided to start decorating her home with dreidels, menorahs, candles, Hanukkah

art, and tinsel. Enter the Hanukkah Fairy, who Fuchs created to add a sense of magic and wonder to the holiday — and to surprise her young kids. “Every year there were more and more Hanukkah decorations from the Hanukkah Fairy,” Fuchs says. “The kids used to write letters to her before the holiday saying ‘Hi Hanukkah Fairy, I hope you had a nice year, I cannot wait to see my home decorated this Hanukkah.’” The exterior decorating began slowly: David Fuchs, who owns a handmade steel manufacturing and distribution business, built the giant menorah. Over the years, the “Hanukkah Elf,” as he’s known by his family, has since built Jewish stars and

various signs for the house. They also try to add a Hanukkah-themed inflatable to their collection every year — last year’s newbie is a dinosaur wearing a Hanukkah sweater. Harrison and Alyson are now 31 and 33, respectively, but the tradition has carried on. To keep the Hanukkah spirit strong, the decorations typically start going up about a week before the holiday starts, and stay up until a week after it ends, Fuchs says. While Fuchs considers herself a Conservative Jew, many of her neighbors in Midwood are more traditionally Orthodox. Still, she’s noticed that many in the area are eager to take pics with the inflatables — some years, a school bus from a nearby yeshiva even stops in front of the house so kids can look. “I love sitting back on my porch — nobody sees me, and I love watching all the people go by,” she said. “It’s just a joy.” The Fuchs family has always celebrated Hanukkah to the nines — four generations of the extended family

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HA PPY HA NU KKA H gather at their home for a Hanukkah party, complete with a gift exchange — and decorating the house has become one of their favorite parts of the holiday. Fuchs’ adult children will help decorate the house, and Alyson Fuchs now also puts up decor in her apartment in Carroll Gardens, where her two daughters, who are three-and-a-half years old and nearly two years old, now

carry on the wonder and delight at the Hanukkah Fairy. “We have Hanukkah pride,” she says. “But it’s not so much ‘Hey, I’m Jewish. Here’s my house, too.’ It’s ‘Hey, I have a holiday that’s really a lot of fun. Look how pretty it is.’” It’s a tradition that’s become so important to the family that the “Hanukkah Fairy” even features in Harrison Fuchs’

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musical. “I really did believe in the Hanukkah Fairy,” Harrison, who uses the stage name Harrison Bryan, says. “To me, this magical entity was just as real as the Tooth Fairy, or Santa to other kids. It was amazing waking up on Hanukkah morning — my sister and I would marvel at all the decorations — blue and white everywhere, and to such an extent that it felt impossible for this to have been done without actual magic.” “It was only when I got a little bit older that I realized, it was real magic — the magic of having incredibly imaginative parents who wanted their children to feel loved and proud of their cultural identity,” he adds. Bryan made “The Hanukkah Fairy”

a character in his musical — the fairy is the “Spirit of Hanukkah Present” who guides the Scrooge-like protagonist Chava Kanipshin through her night of soul-searching. “Even though it may have been a tradition my parents made up, it was always meant to spark joy in others too,” Bryan adds. “And with the show, alongside the Hanukkah Fairy, we hope to do just that.” ––––––––––––––––––––––––– Hanukkah starts this year on the evening of Thursday, Dec. 7, and Fuchs welcomes visitors to come by, enjoy the decorations and take pictures. Located in Brooklyn on East 14th Street between Avenues J and K, her house will be the one all lit up with Hanukkah gear. “You can’t miss it,” she says.

HA PPY HA NU KKA H TOR A H T HOUGH T

Hanukkah’s timely message Rabbi Israel Zoberman anukkah’s origins in the drama of a small yet determined people with a large vision standing up to the might of the Hellenistic empire of antiquity, is a poignant demonstration and a timeless reminder of Israel’s unique and timely legacy. The heroic Maccabees’ successful revolt of the few against the many in 167 B.C.E. following the dictates of the Syrian Greek King Antiochus IV, that sought to deprive the Jews of practicing their own faith, was truly a stance of a proud conscience. Our refusal to submit to a superior physical power when our spiritual inheritance was at stake, is a clear indication of how deep a bond we held with both our religious convictions and sovereign independence, ready to sacrifice the sacred gift of life for the sake of an ancestral covenant with the compelling God of Freedom and Responsibility. The word Hanukkah and its festive meaning represent the spirit of dedication to irreplaceable ideals and ideas through the cleansing of Jerusalem’s temple of old from pagan defilement. The Talmud’s insisting focus on the miracle of the cruse of oil lasting eight days reflects the rabbis’ aversion to the bloodshed and the Hasmoneans’ intra-political strife associated with the war and beyond. Consequently, the Books of the Maccabees were not included in our own Biblical canon but were fortunately preserved through the Catholic one. In truth, the conflict was not only against the enemy from without, but in response to the experienced assimilation from within. The encounter with the dominant, flourishing, and tempting Greek culture led, however, to a fruitful philosophical engagement influencing rabbinic thought and logic. The flickering lights of Hanukkah have come to symbolize through centuries of

suffering, the miracle of Jewish survival in spite of overwhelming odds, while endowing the human family with an enduring promise for a world transformed and redeemed. The 2020 Abraham Accords offer renewed appreciation for the potential of peace in a troubled region. Let us continue to pray and labor that the ancient promise of prophetic Shalom’s healing, hope, and harmony from the distant hills of Judea, the first such inspiring and pioneering message of universal embrace, will yet be realized. At stake is the well-being of all of God’s children, including the offspring of Isaac and Ishmael whose familial bond cannot be denied. How frustrating and telling that there are Palestinian and other Arab leaders attempting to re-write history with the shameful aid of UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) by removing the incontrovertible Jewish connection, as well as the Christian one, with the Temple Mount, the Western Wall and thus from the Land of Israel, seeking to extinguish Hanukkah’s authenticity. Hanukkah’s celebration of religious freedom of choice is vigorously tested and contested in the controversy over Jewish worship at the Western Wall and its southern end (Robinson’s Arch). The Women of the Wall’s long struggle for equal acceptance, as well as the painful disappointment of the Reform and Conservative streams over the unfulfilled agreement by the Israeli government for egalitarian worship in the southern section, are a cause for concern in the context of Jewish pluralism in Israel along with Israel-Diaspora relations. As the United States, Israel, and the entire free world fight the blight of terrorism with misogynistic Iran’s Ayatollahs

Happy Hanukkah Save on what you need for a joyous holiday.

begrudging the Maccabean victory leading the way, much can be learned from the old and new Maccabees’ saga and spirit. The Hamas terrorists with their Nazilike barbaric assaults on Israel’s civilians, threaten the life-enlightening, pluralistic, and inclusive principles of Hanukkah’s bright menorah daring to challenge the darkness of oppression in all its destructive forms. Putin’s barbaric and criminal assault on Ukraine’s independent sovereignty in the heart of “civilized” Europe brings the world to the precipice’s edge. Europe’s move to the

political far right and the emerging threats to American democracy with the attendant rise of antisemitism’s most resistant virus, should alarm us and be ignored only at our own peril. All humans have now become vulnerable Jews. . .yet empowered with our people’s indomitable faith and noble example to face a formidable foe – physically, spiritually, and psychologically – and prevail. ––––––––––––––––––––––––– Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman is founder of Temple Lev Tikvah and is Honorary Senior Rabbi Scholar at Eastern Shore Chapel Episcopal Church, both in Virginia Beach.

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