Low-Key Hanukkah

When I first met Andy, one of the most surprising things that he revealed about himself was that he had been raised Jewish. Until that time, my only experience with religious diversity was growing up non-Mormon in the state of Utah in the ’70s and ’80s. My parents always identified as Methodist, but there was literally no place for us to attend church. We were religious outcasts. Once we moved to Missouri and began to attend church regularly, I knew religious diversity only as different Christian denominations. There were some differences between them, but it was still comparing apples to apples.

Andy was very patient with my silly questions:

Did you have a Bar Mitzvah? Yes
Do you know Hebrew? Some
Your church is on Friday? It isn’t called church.
There is no Jesus? Not exactly

As we got deeper into our relationship, it began to dawn on me, Whoa, there is no Easter, and hold the phone, there’s no Christmas?

Andy put up with me while I tried to learn about Judaism. He did not even laugh too hard when I bought traditional Passover food for one of our first Hanukkahs.

Now, over twenty years later, we have settled into Hanukkah traditions that work for us.

First, we try to light the candles every night. This year, we missed the sixth night, but we nailed the other seven nights. We have a couple of Menorahs, but this one is our favorite.

My in-laws buy the kids presents, one for each night, so Andy and I do not buy them Hanukkah gifts anymore. Hanukkah gifts are mostly trinkets and useful items. It is important to know that Hanukkah is not the Jewish Christmas. They are two completely different traditions that happen to coincide around the same time every year. In fact, Hanukkah is a pretty minor Jewish holiday. I highly recommend watching The Goldbergs episode from last week. It hilariously compares The Goldberg’s Hanukkah with their neighbor’s Christmas. Please watch it. You won’t be sorry. We are all still laughing about it, one week later.

We typically choose one night to make the traditional foods. Most people know about latkes:

Served with applesauce and sour cream:

However, not everyone knows that that all foods fried in oil can be traditional Hanukkah food. So, in our house, we also have donuts:

After all that fried food, nothing sounds better than chocolate. That is when we break out the dreidels and gelt. Traditional gelt is covered in Hebrew and Jewish symbolism. This year, our generic gold-covered chocolate coins were adorned with Kennedy’s profile. No matter what is imprinted on the foil, it all tastes like chocolate-flavored wax. And we love it.

Our traditions may not adhere to strict Jewish customs, but overall, they help teach our children about their family background, and we look forward to Hanukkah every year.

The holiday is over for this year, but if you want to learn more about the Hanukkah for next year, I highly recommend this book, even if you are not a kid:

This post contains affiliate links