When my siblings and I were children, Hanukkah was a very big present-giving occasion, by which I mean that we children got tons of presents — mountains upon mountains of presents — and if we had to listen to our father’s off-tune rendition of “Ma’oz Tzur,” so be it.
But I’m in my post-middle-age years now, and know that Hanukkah has nothing to do with presents and everything to do with — a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and by the way, presents are a goy thing. The “Jewish Christmas,” not so much. And that’s because we Jews focus on the ineffable, the miracle of the light piercing the winter darkness, the flame illuminating spiritual darkness, the turning of the seasons from dark to light and back again, over and over, without beginning or end.
Read Full Article »