Our Hanukkah Community

by Michalee Merritt

I am sitting and looking at all the hanukkiot (menorahs) at the end of my dining room table, right by the window. I think about how they grew from one menorah to five. My husband and I had one. When my daughter Hannah was born she was given a Winnie the Pooh one on her first Hanukkah. When Benjamin came along we added a Noah’s Ark to the collection. Then Adam rounded out our family and we added a sports-themed menorah. We have continued to add to our collection, some on special occasions and some just because they were fun or beautiful. We have enough so that when we have friends or family over during Hanukkah they each have their own to light.  

When we have friends or family over during Hanukkah
they each have their own hannukiah to light.

Reflecting on Hanukkah I realize that I  am proud and happy to be Jewish. Why? We always have a community! Whether it is family, friends, our synagogue, community, or our Chai Mitzvah family! 

Please join our Rosh Chodesh community tonight to light the candles together!

1 response to “Our Hanukkah Community”

1. Kate Barker says:

   December 19, 2022 at 1:43 pm

   In 1990, my husband was deployed for Desert Shield/Desert Storm. He wanted to celebrate Hanukkah. Our daughter had made a hannukiah at day school. It was a simple rectangle of wood painted blue with metal nuts glued to the wood as candle holders. The shamash had 2 nuts stacked as a holder. I bundled the hannukiah up in one box and the candles in another and mailed them off to him. I figured even if a Saudi officer saw it they wouldn’t know what it was. That’s how our very young daughter made it possible for her Dad to celebrate Hanukkah while deployed with the US Army to a Muslim country.

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