Despite the festive spirit in the air, things were looking a little bleak for me that first Hanukkah as a single mother of two.
It was a real shame—Hanukkah has got to be the least stressful Jewish holiday. There’s no laborious hut-building or freezing dinners to endure (see Sukkot), no marathon cleaning sessions and eight days of improvised, breadless menus (see Passover), and no tortured fasting and recounting of past sins you or your ancestors committed (see Tisha B’Av, Yom Kippur, Asarah B’Teves, and so on). Unless you need to contend with spoiled children who expect grandiose presents and you realize you’ve been parenting entirely wrong, Hanukkah is only fun.
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