lee058
This space for rent
Posts: 23,276
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Post by lee058 on Dec 26, 2016 8:07:14 GMT -5
What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.
Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:
Angelika Holly Lee Louise Lynne Peachy
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lee058
This space for rent
Posts: 23,276
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Post by lee058 on Dec 26, 2016 8:20:43 GMT -5
Good morning everybody, and happy second day of Chanukah! I hope everyone is well today. I stayed up late last night watching Doctor Who, but since DS doesn't have work today, I was able to sleep in. DS and I are planning to go out for lunch at our favorite Jewish deli.
I was thinking about yesterday's topic of "inner light" and I thought that today we could talk about more physical things. Namely, are there any specific objects that have meaning for you for Chanukah? Do you decorate your home? Do you always have to have certain colors or placemats or whatever to make the holiday "yours"?
For me, it's all about the menorah. I take it out of its red velvet box just before the holiday and leave it on display. I love looking at it. For several years, we had it in the den, but this year, it is in the kitchen. I put it on a tray so that it can be moved easily if necessary for cooking space (it's on a counter near the stove). We can eat our meals and look at the menorah, and I feel good about that.
As for decorating, we don't do that, but when I was a kid, sometimes my parents would hang up wall decorations.
Other things that I always have around the house for Chanukah relate to food. We have plenty of oil for cooking, and we tend to have a lot of sweets. I also like to have tangerines or clementines to eat.
I'll be back later. Have a peaceful day, Lee
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Post by savtele on Dec 26, 2016 10:41:07 GMT -5
Boker Tov All! We were at my son-the-elder's house all day yesterday- what a fun day. My grandson is home from college, it was just good to catch up!
I have a tree of life menorah wall hanging that someone gave me years ago. It has little white lights on it, you plug it in to a wall outlet. I hang that. & over the years I have bought several menorahs at garage sales (mine is a tree of life one too, Lee!) so when we have company, there are at least 3 or 4 to light. I enjoy helping little children light them, then get the shamash back into its little cup. And I have a big electric one in the window in the den - I always enjoy seeing that one lit. I know that technically, twisting the bulb isn't "candle-lighting" but I do love seeing the soft blue glow out into the yard.
I enjoy clementines & tangerines this time of year. Nice size, easy to peel & they taste delicious! There is a basket on the counter, filled with oranges & orange leaves - beautiful!
I'm heading to the pool. Have a lovely day ladies!
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Post by louise on Dec 26, 2016 18:11:58 GMT -5
I really like my menorah - it looks like something a blacksmith would have made. I keep it out all year round but for Hanukkah I move it to the dining room table. I have a runner/placemat that is blue and white with stars and dreidels which I add under it.
I like having my electric menorah in the window as well. I have it on a timer and have been coming home after dark each evening so far - I like coming up to the house and finding the window lit up.
Went to the cemetery today with DXH's sisters and his best friend. Was cold, grey, and rainy so I guess altogether fitting. I said kaddish and placed a rock on the new gravestone; one of his sisters sang Silent Night and they brought poinsettias and a wreath - also altogether fitting.
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Post by peachymom1 on Dec 26, 2016 20:27:03 GMT -5
For many years, I had a traditional brass menorah that I loved for its simplicity. I had a Jewish coworker who had never celebrated Chanukah, so I invited her to our house for latkes and to celebrate, and she loved the menorah so much that I gave it to her, along with the remaining candles, so she could light it herself for the rest of the nights.
Although this woman turned out to be a bad friend who behaved despicably to me later, both personally and professionally, all these years later, I wonder if she ever lights that menorah and remembers that someone wanted her to have it and wanted to be her friend. DH and the kids all have their own menorahs that have personal meaning to them, and we have an extra that by default is mine, but sometime I want to choose my own again, one that has special meaning to me. Maybe this year!
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Post by hollygail on Dec 26, 2016 20:52:38 GMT -5
DH and I each brought two into our relationship. I don't know the story of his two, but here's my story.
When DS was pretty young, but old enough to learn about lighting Chanukah candles, I went to a synagogue sale to buy one. I bought the least expensive one I found; $10 (at that time, $10 was sort of a lot of money). It's brass, green bottom, with the two lions of Judah holding the two tablets of the 10 Commandments, and the holders along the bottom green base.
One day (DS was a teenager), I was at a Christmas time street fair. I saw this one chanukiah made out of several varieties of wood, with brass candle holders. I loved it on sight. However, as I was admiring it, I was also asking myself how many menorahs does a person need? I couldn't find any logical reason to buy another one (DS was already living with his DF). So I didn't buy it. After I got home, I realized that if I loved something for its beauty, I should obtain it for myself. I went back the next day and it was gone... I spoke to the man in that booth; yes, he was the artist who'd made it, but he said he wouldn't be able to make another in time for Chanukah. I assured him I had another menorah at home, so didn't need it in time for Chanukah that year... I went to his house the following month and the one he made for me was even more beautiful than the one I'd seen the first time I visited his booth!
He told me what each kind of wood was (and unfortunately, I never wrote it all down, so I no longer remember what kinds they are). It looks a little like a gentle triangle (with the shamash at the top), and when you look at it from the top (looking straight down to the table it's sitting on) you can see that it curves! (like a VERY gentle S) It is clearly my favorite!
And as a wedding gift, my dear sister (in addition to quite a few other gifts) gave us a crystal menorah (which we don't light!!!!! it's decorative only). It sits on a prominent shelf in the living room all year round (the other four are on the top shelf in the kitchen pantry, requiring a step-stool to reach; they're stored in a large plastic container with the candles and matches).
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Post by gazelle18 on Dec 26, 2016 21:40:33 GMT -5
Happy anniversary, Holly!
DS and his family are in town, so I have both kids and their spouses and all 6 grandkids hanging out in the house. Crazy but fun.
We are not so much into decorating for Hanukkah, and our menorahs are boring. However, DS's family has the tradition that everyone gets to light a menorah. So the kids light one each made at school, etc. My son has a lovely oil menorah. So we ended lighting about 8 menorahs, and it was beautiful, did the same thing tonight. Just wonderful.
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