Jewish holidays are notoriously tricky to keep track of. For starters, there are a lot of them. But, then of course there is the whole lunar calendar, leap month thing, which makes it almost impossible to pin the buggers down. Still, yesterday when I headed to a Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market) with some Germans and they suggested that we eat Kartoffelpuffers, I suddently remembered about Chanukah, the kartoffelpuffer holiday, aka the holiday of lights.
A kartoffelpuffer, for anyone not familiar, is a large potato pancake often served with apple sauce... so in other words it is a Latke. Latke, for anyone still feeling a little lost, means little patch in yiddish, because the potato pancake resembles precisely that. And Latkes are a traditional food eaten during Chanukah, mostly because they are deep fried, and Chanukah is a holiday in which all things greasy take the spotlight - a little homage to the little chanukiah that could, way back in the 2nd Century BCE during the Maccabean Revolt against the King of Syria Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Some very miraculous oil in the desecrated Temple lasted eight unprecedented days, keeping the menorah shining bright until new oil could be made. Today the oil lasts an unprecedented length of time in our arteries thanks to the holiday of Chanukah.
So because of the Christmas market, I remember about Chanukah, and I guess Chanukah is sort of a holiday that should have a lot of professional meaning to me, considering my curent line of work in synagogues. But, I still didn´t really have any motivation to do anything, until suddenly, in the supermarket, I was inspired.
Inspiration is not something I can define. It just happens. If I could put my finger on it, well I would probably be a much more productive person. But for whatever reason, I decided that I wanted to do some Chanukah stuff. A German friend happened to be coming over anyway, so I determined that she would be the lucky recipient of my new-found over enthusiasm for Chanukah.
Frozen potato pancakes. Purchased.
Applesauce. Located.
These two were easy. Now came the part of the supermarket trip where I attempt to make Jewish ritual or cultural items out of common items in a supermarket.
The Chanukiah... the traditional 9 branched candelabra that is lit each night for Chanukah. Well, I found packets of tea lights sold in groups of 4. So I bought two packets and one larger candle (my friend later told me she suspected these were candles intended for graves... oh well).
Chanukah gelt. I was pretty sure I had seen chocolate coins in German supermarkets. I was certain. But, I suppose such things are never hanging around when you need them. So I found some other individually wrapped candies (since I am pretty sure playing dreidel with M&Ms is a health hazard).
And then, the most challenging part. How does one make a dreidel, a spinning top, from objects found in a supermarket.
Solution: A pepper.
I thought it was a stroke of brilliance. Admittedly I am almost always the first to pat myself on the back over some sort of non-accomplishment. But, seriously, A PEPPER!!! I selected a particularly pointy-bottomed, rectangular Pepper, cut out hebrew letters and taped them to the pepper, cut the stem to a little stub, and TA DAAAA!!!
It didn´t really spin that well. My roommate, who was kind enough to play the game with us, was thoroughly unimpressed, even when I told him that this was an ANCIENT game, and that it usually does not involve a pepper. Whatever, I was really really proud enough of myself. Plus, now that I am finished playing with it, I can eat the pepper!!!
Everything else was great, though. I showed my friend Adam Sandler´s Chanukah song, and told her and my roommates all about Chanukah.
To those who celebrate it, or simply like to eat a latke or spin a dreidel when the opportunity arises.... Happy Chanukah from Berlin, where it is -13C and the whole city is covered in a thick layer of snow.
No comments:
Post a Comment