Shalom.
Hanukkah came late, having just ended at sundown on December 30. I can remember one year getting to light Hanukkah candles even on New Year’s Eve. But it is a funny thing to say that the Jewish holidays are “early” or “late.” Yes, we talk about how the past High Holidays came late. But, of course, the Jewish holidays come on the same day every year—on the Hebrew calendar.
I bet that many of us have a preference whether holidays come early or late. Yes, we Jews have opinions about everything. Do you like when Rosh Hashanah comes right on the heels of Labor Day, or do you like to have most of September to prepare for them? What about Hanukkah? (Or “Chanukah” as TBT prefers to spell it—again, we all have opinions, even about spelling.) One year not long ago, the first night of Hanukkah was the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. That was special because we got to celebrate with our out-of-state relatives who usually visit us for Thanksgiving but never get to celebrate Hanukkah with us. Yet, there are those who much prefer Hanukkah, like this past one, starting around Christmas, so shopping is in sync with what many Americans call the “holiday season.” Yet, that poses its own difficulties. We just had our annual TBT brisket and latkes Hanukkah dinner on Friday, December 20, two nights before the actual start of the holiday, because we knew that if we waited until Friday, December 27, many families would be away. That’s the problem—we celebrate our Jewish holidays on one calendar while living our school and work lives around a different calendar.
How do you react when Hanukkah is over by the first week of December and well-meaning friends and co-workers wish you Happy Holidays or even Happy Hanukkah at the “holiday party?” Just nod and say thanks, or say thanks but gently remind them your holiday is long over? And what about the TV stations that throughout December (regardless of when Hanukkah falls in the month) display a Christmas tree and Hanukkah menorah on their Seasons Greetings message to viewers? Personally, if they need to greet viewers and display the tree, I’d just as soon they not bother with the menorah. It feels strained and not real, even if well-meaning. Do they wish us a Happy Passover in the spring, with a logo of matzo or a Seder plate, as that’s a more important holiday in our religion? Well, that’s my opinion. Yours might be entirely different, which of course is fine.
I spent my elementary school years in a town and school with very few Jews. I distinctly remember in 5th grade when I and my friend Stan (who, incidentally, introduced me to my wife Marlene 19 years later) were asked to go explain Hanukkah to a class of 2nd graders. I suppose it was good to do so, although it also gave me the sense of being different, an outsider explaining my alien culture. You can imagine my shock when, one December soon after that, I happened to be in Great Neck, Long Island (yes, where Rabbi Offner grew up) and saw Hanukkah displays in all the store windows. I couldn’t believe such a place existed.
Oh, and speaking of early or late: It’s never the wrong time and never too late to contribute to the TBT Annual Fund. It supports our vibrant synagogue and makes it possible for TBT to open our doors to everyone in the shoreline Jewish community.
- Jeff Babbin