Hanukkah or Chanukah

Anyway you spell it, it's kind of new to me, and it's been something I've done alone.

I have a bunch of decorations for the 8-day holiday, but I haven't put them up. It takes two to string a 6-foot banner.

However, thanks to my friend Dawn, I haven't spent it completely alone this year. I've been over to her house with my hanukiah (shaped like a tree) twice to light the first and the third candles. I discovered in our conversations about Hanukkah that my shamash holder is lower than it should be; the shamash should be the highest candle. (You light the other candles with it.) I'm not terribly concerned about the fact that mine is slightly incorrect, but it's good to know.

Last night we went to the Hanukkah potluck and service at Temple Sinai in Oakland. I had forgotten what it was like: a hundred little kids running around. Anybody even within hormone reach of teenage-dom wouldn't be caught dead at this celebration.

We did a short (very short!) service in the Sancutary. Rabbi Chester said that it was the shortest service he had ever done for shabbat. And then we went back to Stern Hall for the blessings and Hanukkah songs. The tables were laden with miniature dreidels, M&Ms, and chocolate gelt. I watched one little boy who was briefly at our table (everything you do with these little ones is brief) search for the M&Ms. I was watching while I searched for the gelt. More chocolate.

So I have made an effort to spend this holiday with friends and community. I will be lighting the fifth candle tonight, the sixth candle on Sunday night, probably after the Out-and-About Hanukkah party, and then I won't be lighting any more this season because of travel. I still have many candles left from when I bought a box at Afikomen two years ago. I may do Hanukkah mostly alone, but I don't do the whole eight days without ducking out of town.

By the way, these photos are actual pictures of Dawn's and my hanukiot, lit for Hanukkah. Or Chanukah.