HAPPY HANUKKAH 2020
Last night began my people’s last holiday of 2020—Hanukkah. (I knew it was still 2020 when I not only had trouble lighting both candles, but I even lit the wrong one first! Oysh.)
Believe me—I know how hard it is for anything to be celebrated this year, but we can try, in as small a way as possible.
And right now, the absolute best gift you can give anyone is to stay at home until it’s really safe to start going out and/or gathering again. And Hanukkah is perfect for that endeavor. It’s an easy holiday that you can enjoy alone or with just the people in your household—it’s not really a big whoop.
Mr. X and I will simply light the menorah for the eight nights, and that’s it. Neither one of us can believe that my not-very-religious self actually knows the entire Hanukkah prayer—in Hebrew! (I learned it as kid, which proves the theory that children learn another language easily when they’re very young.) We’ve never needed gifts on any of those nights, so this year will not be difficult in that department. And even though I’ve actually become a fabulous chef over the past nine months, I would not have a clue as to how to make latkes. And I have no idea how to play “dreidel, either.” (Does anybody?)
So, watching colorful candles burn in an even more colorful menorah will be enough celebration for us this year. And we’ll count our blessings. Mr. X is not of my ethnic persuasion, but I know that he’ll be joining me in praying that our worldwide nightmare with the coronavirus will be over as soon as possible, and that everyone will be smart enough to stay home, wear masks, and keep our distance from others so that we will all be around to celebrate in a bigger way next year.
I wish all my readers whose holiday this is a very Happy Hanukkah. Stay safe!