Book Review/How to Spell Hannukkah
How to Spell Hannukkah…and other holiday dilemmas
Edited by Emily Franklin
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Hardcover $18.95
By BILL DUNCAN
The News-Review
There are gifts given during the Jewish Festival of Lights celebration of Hannukkah, or is it spelled Chanukah, or Hanuka, or Hanukka, or Hannukah or Hanukkah? And surely there is no kosher Santa Claus in this Feast of Maccabees. Regardless, Emily Franklin has assembled an entertaining holiday book from the essay of 18 talented Jewish writers who tell of humorous
adventures, mindful musings and touching, nostalgic stories of the eight days that hold a special place in Jewish hearts.
Franklin chose a winning title for her book because all those different spellings of the festival are correct as translated into English. The stories told by mostly young Jewish writers are often nervy, irreverent, but always told in that peculiar way Jews have of poking fun at themselves. It is never a put down on the religion or their elders who have suffered so greatly to preserve their tenacious belief in God.
The holiday always comes before Christmas and in the midst of the Christian celebration, but since Christianity owes its origin to Judaism it is an important part of the Christmas season.
To understand Chanukah, the spelling that seems to be more accurate in the English vernacular,
the reader must first understand its origins, dating to 167 B.C. when Jerusalem was ruled by the Greek Empire and its king, Antiochus IV, forced Jews to reject their religion and worship Greek gods instead. The Jews revolted under the leadership of Judas Maccabees and after three years of fighting rededicated the temple in Jerusalem. The word Chanukah is Hebrew meaning dedication.
The traditional story says that Maccabees found a very small vial of oil, just enough to light the Menorah for one day. The oil miraculously lasted for eight days, thus the eight-day celebration of Chanukah. The religious holiday begins after sunset of the 24th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev. This year, Chanukah will begin at sunset on Sunday, Dec. 21 and ends on Monday, Dec. 29.
The reader will discover differences in the 18 different remembrances of this unique holiday by the essays in Franklin’s collection such as the very humorous tale from Joshua Braff, who writes, “each December, Rabbi Litsky would hands us gifts. I called them ‘Chocolate Jews,’ but they were Judah Maccabeus-shaped candies. When you bit Judah’s head off, he was hollow inside and you could wear him on your pinkie and lick him like a cocoa lollipop.”
There is some religious mixing going on in the book when both Christmas and Chanukah are being celebrated together, including singing Christmas carols. Amy Klein discusses the century old Chanukah debate about whether the potato should be grated or mashed to make the traditional potato latkes. There are multiple memories of foods, like “sufganiot,” a fried doughnut filled with jam, or “levivot,” potato fritters eaten with powered sugar.
One of the most interesting stories told by several writers was about the children playing a special game played with the Chanukah Dreidel, a four-sided top that is spun by the players. It is a game said to have been invented by the Jews to secretly study the Torah after the Greek king outlawed Jewish worship. The word “dreidel,” is a Hebrew verb meaning to spin or turn. Of course the game is played for “gelt.” During Chanukah, it is customary to give gelt, or money to children to teach them and in many cases, according to the writers, charity began at home for the winner of dreidel.
(Bill Duncan can be reached at bduncan@nrtoday.com or by writing to P.O. Box 812, Roseburg, OR 97470)