My thoughts on Channukah-Mark

Monday, December 3, 20073:01:00 PM EST
Feeling: Angry
My thoughts on Channukah
Once I get over my anger because I just had a really nice entry only to have it disappear when the internet connection was lost. I will take a few deep breathes and try to recreate this journal entry again...
Channukah, that special time of year for me when I and my Beloved started becoming serious friends. I remember helping her to decorate her house...man did she have a lot of decorations. She had so many decorations that not only could we decorate one Channukah Bush, we could also decorate a second, and the rest of her apartment, both upstairs and downstairs!!!
What do I remember about Channukah, making latkes, lots of them. I actually started getting pretty good at making them. They were so delicious, often times they did not make it to the freezer. Either my old roommate, Hisham, would delve into them, or we would. There were many a times we would sit back with sore tummies because we ate a whole platter of latkes. They were kind of like Ruffles potatoe chips...You can never stop at just one! Of course we would make promises to ourselves that we will not do this again, until the next plate of steaming latkes was placed on the table...and then it would happen again!
What else do I remember? The presents; we have this tradition that we give a small present for each day of the celebration. It makes it nice to have a small gift, one for each day. It kind of extends the joy because it is not over in one day! No, it lasts for a whole eight days...
Yes, this time I am going to be a little sad, but I will rejoice because I know my Beloved will be standing by the window praying for me and the soldiers in my unit. And just knowing that she is praying makes everything a little more bearable..


Channukah the Celebration of FreedomChannukah, the celebration which commemorates when a group of people stood up and said, "Enough!!!!!!!!!" For you who do not know about Channukah, it was a time of great darkness. A foreign ruler was doing everything he could to systematically wipe out any rememberance of the Jewish people. He forbade us from studying Torah, from worshipping, from teaching our values to the next generation! He even desecrated our Temple! Sadly, there were some who succumbed; they did not want to stand out. They did not want to be different, yet that is exactly what G-d calls us to do. When he calls us out, he gives us an identity that stands in stark contrast with what the world wants. Yes, it was a very dark time, yet there was a small group of people who said, "Enough!" And they lead a revolt, that finally succeeded in driving out this evil king and his army. It was not easy, but they won because G-d was on their side, and they had family at home, praying like Daniel. Praying that G-d would manifest himself in some marvelous way. So yes, I am a little sad, but I will be fine because my Beloved is praying for me...