#my hanukkiot

[angryjewishcockroach]

According to my grandmother, this menorah belonged to my great grandmother (her mother-in-law), though my dad doesn't remember my great grandmother having it. Then again, I don't know how often he visited for Chanukah, I didn't know about my dad's childhood menorah until we inherited it a few years ago, and I have absolutely no idea what the menorah my mom used as a kid (if any) looked like. It may not be my favorite menorah design, but it's really special to have one that goes back three generations <3

[is-the-thing-actually-jewish]

Okay i saw your answer on etrogs so it made me wonder: etrog vs rimon, which is more Jewish?? (I’m not actually invested in a definite answer, but I’m VERY invested in the debate)

Rating: HERE’S THE DEBATE YOU WANTED 

Answering this question necessarily requires a working definition of what makes something “more” or “less” Jewish, and what that definition is results in several different answers with their corresponding justifications. Does “more Jewish” mean “more important to Judaism religiously”? Or “more important to Jewish culture?” Or “belonging uniquely to Jews as opposed to any other enthno-religious group?” So, here goes: 

More religiously important: ETROG. The etrog, also known as the citron, is one of the four species critical to the celebration of the Festival of Sukkot. Leviticus 23:40 commands that “on the first day [of Sukkot] you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before your God seven days.” “Hadar” translates to “splendor” or “beauty” and is traditionally read to refer to the etrog tree. Interestingly, the Jerusalem Talmud suggests the possibility that “hadar tree” could refer to pomegranates before dismissing it, as the pomegranate has a “beautiful fruit but not beautiful wood,” (or possibly vice versa, scribal texts disagree), whereas the etrog has both beautiful fruit and beautiful wood, along a beautiful scent. (Jerusalem Talmud Sukkah 3:5:2). All that aside, there is mitzvah d’orieta (a religious obligation directly from the Torah, as opposed to an obligation established by the rabbis, a mitzvah d’rabbanan) that requires the use of the etrog, whereas all religious use of the pomegranate, such as at a Tu B’shvat Seder or as a siman on Rosh HaShanah, have merely the force of minhag (religious custom, not law). 

More important to Jewish culture: RIMON. Pomegranates feature in a huge amount of Jewish art, especially as decoration on pretty much any Jewish ritual item. You can find them on everything from ketubot (marriage contracts) to hanukkiot (hanukkah menorahs). I’ve seen pomegranate tallitot, pomegranate mezuzot, pomegranate tzedakah boxes, etc. Personally, in my house, we have four different pomegranate mezuzot, a pomegranate hand-washing cup for ritual handwashing, pomegranate candlesticks, a pomegranate kiddush cup, and, ironically enough, an etrog box decorated with— you guessed it— pomegranates. (I also have pomegranate earrings and pomegranate socks, thank you fiance) (At the time of this writing, this blog is also a Jewish thing decorated with pomegranates). A search for “pomegranate” on Judaica.com offers 197 results, whereas a search for “etrog” turns up 4 actual lulav and etrog sets, plus 13 decorative boxes designed to safely hold one’s etrog during sukkot and not as decoration at all. 

Pomegranates are one of the seven species biblically associated with the land of Israel, along with wheat, barley, grapes, fig, olives, and dates (Deuteronomy 8:8)-- a list that does not include etrogim. They are also an important motif throughout Shir haShirim (Song of Songs), in which the lovers frequently compare each other’s beauty to that of a pomegranate. Pomegranates symbolize beauty, fertility, fecundity, mitzvot, and merit, as in the annual Rosh HaShanah wish that “our merits be as plentiful as the seeds of the pomegranate.” A common (though inaccurate) bit of folk wisdom gives the number of seeds in a pomegranate as 613, one for each of the commandments given in the Torah. 

In a particularly entertaining digression in the Talmud (Bava Metzia 8a) in which the rabbis are comparing their physical attributes (yes, this means exactly what you think it does), the narrative voice pauses to explain that if you want to understand just how unbelievably gorgeous Rabbi Yochanan was, you should take a “silver goblet from the smithy and fill it with red pomegranate seeds and place a diadem of red roses upon the lip of the goblet, and position it between the sunlight and shade. That luster is a semblance of Rabbi Yoḥanan’s beauty.” Does this really support my thesis? As minor evidence at most, but I will seize any opportunity to share that description. 

Meanwhile, the etrog does not appear as a symbol or decoration in and of itself, only in the context of Sukkot and the other three Sukkot species. You may indeed see an etrog on the Torah curtain in Tishrei or in a panel of stained glass in the synagogue… but you’ll only know it’s an etrog because it has the lulav right next to it, generally as part of an array of holiday-related symbols. (I do, in fact, also own an etrog earring, but just the one— the other one is a lulav, thank you sibling.) There are a plethora of midrashim on what exactly the etrog symbolizes, but always as part of a set. For example, it’s often associated with the heart, to go along with the palm frond’s spine, the myrtle’s mouth, and the willow’s eye. As my fiance put it, “If you see a pomegranate on something, there’s a decent chance it’s Jewish. But without the lulav, an etrog just looks like a lemon, and there’s nothing particularly Jewish about lemons.” 

Belonging Uniquely to Jews: ETROG. The citron is widely agreed to be one of three “true” members of the citrus family, along with the mandarin and pomelo, with all others the results of hybridization. Archeological and primary-document research confirms that the citron originated in eastern India and southern China, and was found in Sumerian ruins dating from more than six thousand years ago. It is referenced in the Vajasaneiy Samhita, a compilation of Vedic religion texts, called Yajur-Veda (ca. 1200-1000 B.C.E), and early Greek and Latin writers describe the citron clearly, mentioning its use as an antidote to poisons and a way to ward off moths from one’s clothes.* However, a 2015 study found evidence that the diffusion of the citron throughout southern Italy and the surrounding region dated to the destruction of the Second Temple and subsequent Jewish diaspora. The study concludes that their results “evidence the special role played by Jews in the spread of the citron as the authentic sacred fruit used in their Tabernacles ritual.”* It is worth noting that there is a variety of citron known as “Buddha’s Hand” that may be used as offerings in Buddhist temples, but it looks so dramatically different from what we know as an etrog as to be a different item entirely (and, indeed, multiple rabbis have ruled that it should not be used for fulfilling the mitzvah). Thus, the etrog is inextricably and uniquely linked to Jews. 

On the other side of the debate, pomegranates appear frequently in art, stories, and cultural artifacts throughout the world, particularly in the Middle and Near East. These stories range from the Ancient Greek myth of Hades and Persophone, whose consumption of pomegranate seeds kept her in the underworld for the winter each year, to a Buddhist legend of a child-eating/stealing demoness whom the Buddha convinced to only eat pomegranates and become a patron goddess of children.  Greece, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, among others, consider the pomegranate to be one of their important symbols. Traditions regarding pomegranates abound, including a Greek custom of smashing a pomegranate on the new year for good luck. They are widely considered a symbol of fertility, abundance, and good luck, similarly to their symbolism in Judaism. In short, while Jews are very into pomegranates, so are a lot of other cultures. 

*Gina Maruca, et al. “Religious and cultural significance of the citron (citrus medica L. ‘diamante’) from Calabria (South Italy): A biblical fruit of the mediterranean land.” Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering A, vol. 4, no. 4, 28 Apr. 2015, https://doi.org/10.17265/2162-5298/2015.04.006.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

i feel like if we're turning dinosaurs into kosher hanukkiot, lambeosaurines would be really good candidates. you could have the eight candles all level across their (relatively) straight backs, and place the shamash higher up on the crest (but that might also be my lambeosaurine bias talking)

No no you’re completely right and the only reason companies haven’t done this is bc they don’t know dinosaurs

[matan4il]

Ok I had a go making sfinge today and they're unlike anything I've ever made? Like it's almost a 100% hydration dough (1:1 ratio flour to liquid) and there's basically no sweetness to the dough itself - they seem almost savoury (although maybe that was the recipe I found?).

I had a proper double take moment when I had them with honey as it's like the lovechild between a sourdough and a doughnut! Honestly so bizarre but I loved it. Cannot wait to gorge myself the next few days (I made 30 kibbeh tonight to do am waiting to fry them up tomorrow 🎉)

(also we have all seen how Oliver Stark has decided Buck eats on 911 by unhinging his jaw and I'm imagining Buck in your series attempting to get a full one of these in in one go and just covering himself in honey)

OMG! Hon, your sfinge looks SO good, I am going to die over here, since I have no possibility to get or make some this Hanukkah. I salute you for making them, the pics are gorgeous and appetizing, and I am SO happy that you liked them! But also, you have to get to try the ones with whipped cream and strawberries we have here, they're my personal faves, and I can't get enough of them.

(also, I love that image of Jewish Buck devouring sfinge without a second thought... not gonna lie, thinking of writing that now)

Okay, since you shared gorgeous pics with me, I'll share some photos right back. My apologies for them being less gorgeous, but on my way to get my treatment this Thursday, I got to stop by the local mall and take these. From the grocery store, where I discovered a Kinder chocolate hanukkiah, so of course I got it for my nephew:

From the home design shop, a display of hanukkiot:

(in the background, you can see a sign pointing out where the bomb shelter is)

From the bakery, some of the fancy sufganiot that Israelis are insane for (yes, you absolutely should come to Israel to try them!):

My place of work decorated for the kids evacuated from the south, who are currently studying there:

And lastly, just because, my sweet nephew dancing to a musical dreidel, playing a Hanukkah song:

God, I love his tiny focused expression. "No, adults! Be quiet, I must spin at the same time as the dreidel!" XD

Happy Hanukkah, darling! Hope the light is shining brighter than ever for you this holiday! xoxox

[mostlyvoid-partiallyturtles]

Some pictures of my family’s hanukkiot from last night :]

[capsrecedinghairline]

The Batfam as Menorahs

(aka hanukkiot)

Bruce

He made it himself when he was six. The shamash dino is named Menorasaurus.

Dick

Jason

Tim

He also made it himself. I have consulted a rabbi and this is indeed a kosher hanukkiah.

Duke

I know in my heart that Duke is a Lego kid.

Damian

Cass

Alfred

There’s no punchline for this one I just think he’d like it

[marauders-venting]

Happy Hanukkah

pairing: none (non-romantic fic but there are mentions of wolfstar, jily and dorlene)

genre: fluff

warnings: none

words: 3414

a/n: for all my jewish followers who read fics about christmas every year and want to see one about hanukkah. Have a great hanukkah and eat delicious deep-fried food. eat sufganiyot with chocolate cause they are superior. you know remus agrees with me. חג שמח!

Lily’s favourite holiday had always been Hanukkah, even as a kid. Petunia always disagreed and argued that Purim was far better because you got to dress up and the baskets full of treats were a fun bonus. But Lily’s mind could not be changed. Lighting the candles with her family, singing songs, playing the dreidel game, eating fried food. The fucking fried food. Lily would kill for her grandmother's latkes; she only ever made them during Hanukkah. Purim could never measure up in Lily’s mind. This was why Lily was so disappointed when she found out that this year, Hanukkah would end before Christmas break started at Hogwarts. Lily was used to missing the first few days of the celebrations because the 25th of Kislev fell on a different date on the Gregorian calendar each year. But Lily had always been able to light the candles with her family for at least one night. Not this year, though.

“Remus,” she said one day when they were studying. “You know we’re missing all of Hanukkah, right?”

“What?” Remus said. “How?”

“The 25th of Kislev is on the 30th of November this year,” Lily said. “Hanukkah will be over before we get home.”

“That sucks,” Remus said.

“Yeah, I know.”

---------

Lily had first found out that Remus was Jewish after winter break in their first year. Lily’s parents had decided to have her Bat Mitzvah party a little bit before she turned twelve rather than wait for her to come home for Spring break in April as it would be inconvenient to have her Bat Mitzvah during Passover. Lily’s grandmother had given her her gift early as well: an old family heirloom, the only one they had. A gold necklace with a star-of-David pendant. Lily loved the necklace. She had no clue why her grandmother had decided to give the necklace to her and not Petunia but Lily decided early on that it was probably better not to tell Petunia about it. But once she was back at Hogwarts, she wore the necklace every day, never taking it off, not even when she slept.

“That’s a really pretty necklace,” Remus had told her when he’d seen it. “I didn’t know you were Jewish.”

“Yeah, I am,” Lily said.

“I am too,” Remus said, smiling.

“Really?” Lily said, surprised. “But I’ve seen you eat meat and dairy together.”

“I don’t really keep Kosher,” Remus said. “I mean, I don’t eat pork and shrimp and things like that but my family doesn’t separate meat and dairy. Do you keep Kosher?”

“Yeah,” Lily said. “Well, kind of. At home, we only have Kosher meat but when we eat out my parents don’t mind if we have unKosher meat as long as we don’t mix meat and dairy.”

“So eating at Hogwarts is like eating out?” Remus asked.

“Yeah, I guess,” Lily said and Remus nodded.

---------

And so it happened that Lily and Remus were sitting in the common room with their friends on the 25th of Kislev without a single candle in sight. Remus was opening a letter that the family owl had brought for him through the common room window and Lily couldn’t help but notice that her family hadn’t sent her anything.

“Ha, my parents lit my hanukkiah,” Remus said, sitting back down beside Sirius on the couch. He showed Lily the photo. It was a muggle photo of Remus’ mum standing next to two hanukkiot, one of which was a beautiful, large, silver hanukkiah and the other was small and seemed to be made of clay. On the table next to the hanukkiot was a plate with sufganiyot on it.

“Did you make that hanukkiah?” she asked.

“Yeah, when I was little,” Remus said.

“It’s… nice,” she said.

“No, it’s not, it’s hideous,” Remus laughed. Lily grinned and nodded.

“It’s hideous,” she said. “It’s cool that you made it though.”

“It’s a Kosher hanukkiah too, so I use it every year,” Remus said.

“Can I see?” Sirius asked. Lily handed him the photo and he looked at it and frowned. “Your camera’s broken. The photo won’t move.”

“That’s because it’s a muggle camera dumbass,” Marlene said. “Merlin, Sirius, even I knew that.”

“Shove off, McKinnon,” Sirius said, looking back at the photo. “That’s the one you made?” he added to Remus.

“Yeah,” Remus said.

“The other one is beautiful,” James said, looking over Sirius’ shoulder.

“It’s my mum’s,” Remus said. “It was her grandpa’s and he gave it to her, I’m pretty sure.” By this point, Peter, Marlene, Dorcas and Mary had crowded around to see the photo as well.

“I can practically smell the sufganiyot in the photo,” Lily said as everybody sat back down.

“Yeah,” Remus smiled.  “It just sucks that I can’t be there.” Sirius pulled Remus towards him and started stroking Remus’ shoulder soothingly with his thumb.

“What would you be doing if you were at home right now?” Sirius asked.

“Lighting the candles,” Remus said, “singing Hanukkah songs, eating fried food.”

“What about you, Lils?” Dorcas asked. “How would you be celebrating?”

“Probably lighting the candles too,” Lily said. She could picture her family gathered around the brightly lit candles, her parents telling her to be careful with her hair around the fire. “And then Petunia and I would play the dreidel game with chocolate coins.” Not that she’d want to play with me now even if we were both home, said a voice in Lily’s head.

“I played with my parents when I was little too,” Remus said. “But they always gave me all their chocolate at the end.”

“Ha, I wish Petunia had done that,” Lily said. “She liked playing by the rules.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Remus joked. Then he glanced at his watch. “Shit, Lily we have to go. Prefect rounds.”

“Right. See you later,” she said to the rest of their friends.

“Bye.”

---------

The following night was a full moon; Lily did the prefect rounds alone for the next two nights, visiting Remus in the hospital wing on the day after his transformation. The rounds were boring without Remus but she never told him that; she wasn’t going to make Remus feel more guilty than he already did. The night he rejoined her for the rounds he always apologized profusely and Lily assured him every time that it was alright. Even once he had recovered from the moon, Remus tired quickly.

“Ugh, I’m exhausted,” Remus yawned, as they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. “I’m so ready to go to sleep.”

“Yeah, me too,” Lily said. She gave the Fat Lady the password and they climbed into the portrait hole.

“Surprise!”

“What the—” It took Lily a moment of staring around at her friends to understand what she was seeing. Marlene, Dorcas, Mary, Sirius, James and Peter were standing around the table on which they had placed a hanukkiah with four candles and an extra candle for a Shamash in Dorcas’ hand. They had also somehow managed to arrange two trays, one with latkes and one with sufganiyot, a bag of chocolate coins and a pile of plastic dreidels.

“You guys,” Remus said as they both approached the table. “What is this?”

“This is your Hanukkah celebration!” Mary said.

“We know you’d both rather be with your families but since that’s not possible, we figured this is better than nothing,” Peter said. “Right?”

“Yeah,” Lily said. “Yes. Wow, you guys. This is amazing. Thank you.”

“Of course,” Marlene said, putting an arm around her. “You deserve to celebrate your holidays as much as everybody else.” Soon everybody had gathered together in one big group hug that was only broken up when Sirius spoke.

“We brought these as well,” he said, holding up a bag that Lily didn’t recognize. “I’ve seen you wear them before but I didn’t know if it’s for today or not.” Lily looked over at Remus who was smiling fondly at his boyfriend.

“Those are Tefillin,” he said and Lily let out a small “oh”. “You don’t wear them on Hanukkah but I should have some kippahs in there as well, which you can wear on Hanukkah.” He took the bag from Sirius and pulled out several kippahs.

“Why do you have so many?” Lily asked, laughing.

“These are way too easy to lose, okay, it’s not my fault,” Remus said.

“Are we meant to wear them as well?” James asked.

“You don’t have to, but you can,” Remus said, holding out spare kippahs to Sirius, James and Peter. They took them and clipped the kippahs to their heads. “Dorcas, you want one?”

“Can I?” they asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Remus said, handing them a kippah.

“Okay so tell us what we do now,” Dorcas said, once the kippah was secured to their head.

“You wanna do candles first or food first?” Remus asked Lily.

“Candles?” she said. He nodded. “I’ll do the first two and you’ll do the second two?”

“Sure,” he said. Remus picked up the candle that had been set aside for the Shamash and lit it with his wand.

“Be careful with the fire,” James said, “you could burn yourself.”

“My dad said that to me and Petunia once and then he ended up burning a hole in the tablecloth himself,” Lily said. “We remind him of it every year.”

“Well, I can’t guarantee that I won’t burn the entire common room down myself,” James said, “but that’s why you two have to be careful with the fire so that I don’t have to be.” Everybody laughed.

“You say the first blessing,” Remus told Lily, handing her the candle, “I’ll do the ‘amen’ part.” She nodded

“Baruch atah Adonai,” Lily started in a soft singing voice as she lighted the first candle, saying the blessings to the tune she’d been taught since she was a little girl, “Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b-mitzvotav, v-tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Hanukkah.”

“Amen,” Remus said, carrying her tune.

“Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, she-asah nisim la-avoteinu v-imoteinu ba- yamim ha-heim ba-z’man ha-zeh.”

“Amen.” This time, Marlene, Dorcas, Mary, Sirius, James and Peter joined in the ‘amen’ as well, picking up the tune from Remus. Lily gave Remus the candle.

“Baruch atah Adonai,” Lily and Remus sang together, “Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, shehecheyanu v-ki’y’manu v-higianu la-z’man ha-zeh.”

“Amen.” Remus put the Shamash in its place in the raised branch. Then Lily and Remus started singing ‘Ha-nerot Hallallu’, a Hanukkah song in Hebrew.

“That was awesome,” Mary said, once they finished.

“Are there any Hanukkah songs in English?” James asked.

“There’s ‘oh Hanukkah, oh Hanukkah’,” Remus said. “Technically, there’s a Hebrew version as well but I can’t remember it.”

“How does it go?” Sirius asked. Remus looked at Lily.

“You have to sing with me, I’m not singing alone,” he said.

“Oh alright,” Lily said. “You sing lovely though, Rem.”

“Just shut up and sing with me.”

“Oh Hanukkah, oh Hanukkah come light the Menorah, let’s have a party we’ll all dance the horah, gather round the table we’ll give you a treat: dreidels to play with and latkes to each and while we are playing, the candles are burning oh, one for each night they shed us with light to remind us of days long ago, one for each night they shed us with light to remind us of days long ago.” Their friends clapped; Lily took a bow and everybody laughed.

“There’s a Yiddish version too,” she said. “My grandma taught me.”

“You have to sing for us in Yiddish now,” Marlene said.

“Nah, I hardly remember it,” Lily said. “I’ve only ever sung it once.”

“Try then,” Dorcas insisted. Lily sighed.

“Chanukah, Oy Chanukah yontif a sheiner, a lustiger, a freilicher… something something something… Alle nacht in dreidlech, Shpiln mir, zudig heise latkes, es un a shir… something, something… di Chanukah lichtelech on, lumir alle zingen, lumir alle shpringen, lumir alle tantzn in khur, lumir alle zingen, lumir alle shpringen, lumir alle tantzn in khur.” Everybody applauded and Lily laughed.

“That was awful, what are you clapping for?” she said. “Is it time for food?”

“Yeah, sure,” Remus said, taking a latke. “This is so good, where the fuck did you guys get this?” Lily picked one up and took a bite. Remus was right, they were delicious. Not quite as good as her grandmother’s but it was hard to go wrong with fried food. 

“I wrote to your mum and asked for the recipe,” Sirius said. “And James and Dorcas made them.”

“You made these?” Remus exclaimed. “Wow.”

“Really, you like them?” Dorcas said.

“Yeah, they’re really good.”

“Lily?” James said. “Thoughts?”

“You’re amazing chefs,” she said, smiling. James picked a little latke and popped the whole thing in his mouth.

“Mhm, we are good,” he said with his mouth full and he and Dorcas high-fived. Soon everybody was eating the latkes and complimenting James and Dorcas on their success.

“Did you make the sufganiyot too?” Remus asked.

“Nah, Marlene and I found them in Hogsmeade,” Peter said.

“I looked for chocolate coins in Honeydukes too but they didn’t have them,” Mary said. “Which I thought was stupid. But anyway I took a bus to a muggle village near here and bought the coins and dreidels.”

“Hey, I came too,” Sirius said.

“Yeah but you’re useless with all things muggle so you don’t get credit,” Mary said.

“That is so unfair— mhm!” Remus had grabbed Sirius hand and spun Sirius to face him, shutting him up with a kiss. Lily assumed he’d been waiting to do that since they had entered the common room and had run out of patience.

“I’ll give you credit,” Remus said quietly when they broke apart, keeping an arm wrapped around Sirius’ waist. Sirius leaned in to kiss him again, apparently forgetting that they were surrounded by people. Marlene smirked and shook her head, Peter rolled his eyes and James said loudly, “get a fucking room.”

“Sorry,” Remus said breathlessly as he pulled away.

“I’m not,” Sirius said, grinning.

“So how long have you guys been planning this?” Lily asked to change the subject.

“It was James’ idea,” Marlene said.

“Hey!” Sirius said indignantly. “It was also my—” But Marlene jabbed him in the ribs and jerked her head in Lily’s direction. Sirius fell silent.

“Was it really?” Lily asked James.

“Well, yeah,” James said. “It was kind of Sirius’ idea too though.”

“Thank you, Potter,” she said. “This is a really sweet idea.”

“I–It is?”

“Yeah,” Lily said and smiled at him. For several moments, nobody said a word and Lily found herself staring at James for a little too long before she realized what she was doing. She felt her cheeks heat and looked away. “Peter, can you pass me a sufganiyah please?”

“Sure,” Peter said. “Jam or chocolate?”

“Jam,” she said.

“What? Why?” Remus said. “The chocolate ones are so much better.”

“No, they’re not,” Lily said. “Jam sufganiyot are superior and nobody can change my mind.” Remus shook his head.

“Chocolate is superior to everything and anything, Lily,” Remus said. “You can keep saying that jam is better but you’ll just be wrong.”

“Chocolate in a sufganiyah is weird,” Lily said. “They don’t go together.”

“Lils, do you have a death wish or something?” Sirius said. “Did you just insult chocolate right to Remus’ face? Not a smart move.”

“Nah, I don’t care,” Remus said, surprising everybody in the room. “More chocolate for me.” Soon enough, the platter that held the sufganiyot was empty and Mary bought out the dreidels and chocolate coins that she and Sirius had bought.

“I can’t believe you guys never played the dreidel game,” Lily said, shaking her head. “This was like my whole childhood.”

“Yeah, me too,” Remus said. “I would wait all year to play this game.”

“Teach us how to play now then,” Mary said. They sat down in a circle on the floor and she handed a dreidel to each person.

“Okay first, we have to divide the chocolate coins equally between everybody and everybody puts one coin in the middle,” Lily said.

“Okay, what now?” James asked once they’d done what she said.

“See how each side of the dreidel has a Hebrew letter? You spin the dreidel and it lands on a letter and depending on the letter you either win or lose chocolate,” Remus explained. “And after every spin, you have to put one coin in the middle regardless of the letter. I’ve forgotten what each letter means though, so Lily will have to explain that bit.”

“Okay so ‘nun’ — that’s this letter — means you do nothing. The letter on the left is ‘gimel’ — the other left, Sirius — which means that you take all of the chocolate coins in the center. The next letter to the left is ‘hey’ which means you take half of the coins in the middle. If it’s an odd number you round up. And the last letter is ‘shin’ which means you have to put a coin in the middle in addition to the one you have to put at the end of each turn. Got it?”

“How does the game end?” Mary asked.

“Technically, it’s when one person runs out of coins to put in the middle but usually people tire out before that,” Lily said. But the game ended much faster than expected. Peter kept landing on shin and nun and he quickly ran out of coins.

“That’s not fair,” Peter said. “My dreidel hates me, it sabotaged my attempts. I think everybody should donate one coin to me.”

“Here, Wormy,” James said, giving him a coin.

“You can have one of mine too,” Lily said. Everybody gave Peter a single coin. Even Remus, albeit reluctantly, donated a chocolate coin.

“Chocolate from Moony?” Peter said. “What did I do to deserve such a sacred gift?”

“You bought chocolate sufganiyot,” Remus said. “That’s your payment.”

“I will take it,” Peter said. “So who won?” They counted their coins and found that Sirius had won, beating Dorcas by exactly two coins.

“Here you go,” Sirius said, sliding half of his coins into Remus’ pile. “Happy Hanukkah, love.”

“Oh my god, I love you,” Remus said, kissing him. Sirius laughed.

“I love you too, Moony.”

---------

The eight of them moved to the couch and Marlene suggested they play some music.

“What should I play?” Mary asked, pulling out her wand.

“Anything,” James said.

“Something quiet,” Remus said, pulling a book out of nowhere. Mary tapped the record player that sat in the corner of the common room and a piece of classical music started playing.

“Really? Classical music?” Sirius said.

“What? Remus said something quiet,” Mary said defensively.

“Okay,” Sirius shrugged, snuggling against his boyfriend’s shoulder.

“I still can’t believe you guys did this,” Lily said, as Mary sat back down on the couch.

“Of course, we did,” Dorcas said.

“We love you, Lils,” Marlene said. “You too, Rem.”

“Yeah,” James said with a small smile. “We love you.” Maybe she was imagining it but Lily could’ve sworn his eyes lingered on hers when he said it.

---------

Lily looked around at her friends, sitting on the common room couch in silence, listening to the soft music play. Marlene and Dorcas cuddled together on the couch, occasionally sharing little, soft kisses, Mary and Peter playing a silent game of muggle chess, Peter drumming his fingers on the table to the beat of the music. She looked at James, half-asleep and leaning against Sirius, who was leaning on Remus who was reading a book and allowed herself to admit, only to herself, that she might have a teeny tiny crush on that boy, that messy-haired, arrogant toerag.

She looked at the hanukiah on the table between them. She watched the bright orange flames slowly dying out, watched the wax dripped onto the aluminium foil under the hanukkiah, protecting the table. She thought of what her friends had done for her and Remus today. And Lily knows that this Hanukkah was just as special to her as every Hanukkah she’s celebrated with her family. Maybe being here this year was better than being home. Petunia can say Lily’s a freak all she wants, Snape can think she’s inferior and call her mudblood, but they can’t hurt Lily anymore. Their words don’t touch her. She has friends here. She’s found a family here. Lily has better words. We love you, Lils. We love you.

[rainbowlack]

חנוכה שמח!

Happy first night of Hanukkah! Here's a photo of 2 Hanukkiot, blocked off by various objects so my cat (the fluffy lump in the background) doesn't burn her tail on the candles 😆

[angryjewishcockroach]

This menorah is almost from the Disney Store from back in the days when a) there were Disney Stores outside of NYC and the Disney Parks, and b) said Disney Stores actually sold more than just a few cheap toys and clothes and costumes for kids (aka the 90s). It's a really cute menorah, especially for a kid, though difficult to clean, as you can see by the wax spots in the snow making it look like the Hundred Acre Wood has turned into a murder scene. Some years ago, Rabbit (and, by extension, Gopher) broke off the menorah, and I finally got around to gluing them back on this year, so we get to use it again! I've put little tinfoil cups in each of the hunny pot candle holders in an attempt to keep it reasonably clean.

The candles we're using for this menorah are beeswax candles we found on sale in our synagogue's gift shop after Chanukah last year. They're made of sheets of colored beeswax rolled up around a wick. So far, they're working pretty well. We're using them in this menorah because it's the only one we have they fit in.

[angryjewishcockroach]

These are the three menorahs that we own that we did not light this year (but we did display them).

The first one is an artsy menorah that I'm pretty sure we got at the same time as our oil one. It is very much not my style and has never been. We've never used it, likely because my mom doesn't want to bother with having to clean out the wax from various places, which I get.

The second one is Synagogues of Europe by artist Maude Weisser. The plaque on it says it was made in 1995, but I'm not sure when/where we bought it. As you can see, it hasn't survived previous lightings very well, which is why we didn't light it or the next one.

The synagogues depicted are (from right to left):

Prague, Czechoslovakia: The Altneuschul or "Old-New Synagogue" (c.1280)

Toledo, Spain: Santa Maria La Blanca Synagogue (c. 1200)

Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia: The Dubrovnik Synagogue was built in the 17th century

Cracow, Poland: The Rema Synagogue (c. 1550)

Vilna, Poland: This gate is located at the entrance to the Shulhof on Jews' Street in the Jewish Quarter of Vila.

Lutsk, Poland: The Lutsh Fortress Synagogue (c. 1626)

Zabludow, Poland: The Zabludow Synagogue (c. 1756)

Budapest, Hungary: The Synagogue in Obuda (1820)

Florence, Italy: Tiempo Israelitico, completed (1882)

The third one is Synagogues of North America, also by artist Maude Weisser. This one has a little plaque that says it was designed in 1997, but we got it two summers ago at the Touro Synagogue (the synagogue on the far right), the first purpose-built synagogue in the United States, in Newport, Rhode Island, where the artist herself was working (!!!).

The synagogues depicted are (from right to left):

Newport, Rhode Island: Touro Synagogue (dedicated 1763)

New York City: Temple Emanu-El (built in 1929)

New York City: B'nai Jeshurun (consecrated in 1827)

Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: Beth Shalom (built in 1959; designed by Frank Lloyd Wright)

San Fransisco, California: Shearith Israel (built in 1854)

Cincinnati, Ohio: Congregation B'nai Jeshurun (built in 1848)

Boston, Massachusetts: The Vilna Shul (built in 1919)

Chicago, Illinois: Kehilat Anshei Ma'Arav (built in 1891)

Charleston, South Carolina: Beth Elohim (built in 1840)

Bonus: a shot of all our menorahs because seven nights’ worth of candles is too pretty not to share:

[angryjewishcockroach]

Our oil menorah! We got this one YEARS ago but only used it for one Chanukah because, as it turns out, the little cups for the oil get scorched from the flame. But why should that stop us from using it?

The other thing is that it lives at the back of a glass-fronted cabinet for the rest of the year, behind most of the other menorahs, and my dad says he was afraid to try to take it out because he might break something, as there wasn't really much room to put all of the other menorahs to get them out of the way. I would have gladly taken the time to figure something out, but no one asked me. Anyway, we recently rearranged that room, so for the moment it's not so cluttered and there's more room to maneuver things. I also took all of the menorahs out this year, anyway, making that a moot point.

Anyway, oil menorahs, if you've never used one, aren't as complicated or difficult to use as you might (or might not, idk) think. You just need some sort of oil that will burn (such as olive oil) and wicks, which you can get wherever oil menorahs are sold (and also Amazon). We use these little wicks that come with cork disks to put them in so that they'll float on the oil. The weird thing is that you can't use the shamash to light it; you have to use a separate candle (such as the shamash for candle menorah, if you're using one as well, which is what we do). It's really neat!

Plus pictures of them all on their eighth night glory:

Also had some fun taking pictures of this one with different filters this week:

[angryjewishcockroach]

This is the menorah that my dad and his family used to use growing up. It's neat because the little doors open to reveal the ten commandments inside. Most of the little bits of color all over it are not wax but (I assume) enamel that is part of the menorah. My favorite bit is the red of the lions' mouths.

[angryjewishcockroach]

My great grandfather was a sheet metal worker, and, when my dad was a kid, he helped him and his brother make their own menorahs out of aluminum! I do question the use of rivets to hold everything together, as the Magen David holding up the shamash has a tendency to list to the side, as you can see here. I like that it looks almost exactly like this one, only more...homemade.

[angryjewishcockroach]

I honestly don't know the story to this menorah. We've had it forever, and it very well may have been a cheap-y one purchased early on in my parents' marriage because they needed one. It's not a bad menorah, though. I like the texture in the design.

[angryjewishcockroach]

This is the menorah that my family has primarily been using over the last 10 years or so, at least. I like it a lot because it's simple, familiar, and easy to clean. It's also, as you can see, rather short, which makes me a bit less nervous about the candles accidentally falling over, even though there's nothing about its height that keeps the candles in better and the end result of a toppled candle would be exactly the same as if it were to happen with any other menorah.

[angryjewishcockroach]

I went ahead and did the thing!

Maybe I'll do a series of posts about all of our hanukkiot over Hanukkah. This is slightly less than half of them*. Usually, we pick just one hanukkiah to use (the one on the bottom left), but last year, we had the idea to use one per person, so everyone got to light their own each night. 10/10, would highly recommend.

*at least, slightly less than half of them known to me. It's always possible we have more buried away somewhere.

Hanukkah isn't for nearly 20 days but the urge to take out all of the Hanukkah menorahs is strong