Shalom and Happy Hanukkah!
No, I haven’t converted to Judaism. But, I have been to synagogue only two times less than I’ve been to church this year (If you’re keeping score at home, that means I’ve been to church twice this year). Although I know much more about the history, practices, rules, and traditions of Catholicism, I can now say I’m just about as much Catholic as I am Jewish. Like I wrote for my Coexist t-shirt (http://davestshirts.blogspot.com/2010/09/t-shirt-245-coexist.html), I believe in the Golden Rule – which is part of every major religion. If you follow that, it really doesn’t matter what your religion is.
I will admit that when I think of Hanukkah, two things come to mind. The Hanukkah Harry skit from Saturday Night Live, the dreidel song from South Park, and Adam Sandler’s Hanukkah Song:
I do have a story relating to Jewish tradition that I would like to share. I was 13 and in the 7th grade, and it was my friend Adam’s Bar Mitzvah. The post-ceremony party was like nothing I had ever been to. When I saw some of the presents Adam got (the hand held TV was amazing!), I secretly wondered what my parents would think if I told them I wanted to be Jewish. Like a good friend, Adam had arranged the seating plan so I was sitting next to the girl that I “like-liked” and who “like-liked” me back. We had been on a couple pseudo-dates and had played rounds of spin the bottle, so I thought everything had been going pretty smoothly. Then, in the middle of the celebration, one of her friends came and told me she didn’t like me anymore. My little heart was crushed, and for the first (and definitely not the last) time I wondered if there was anything I could have done differently to avoid the “dumpage”. The rest of the night I had to awkwardly sit next to her, trying to avoid eye contact and not let on that the rejection was bothering me. Ouch. I am happy to report that I now look back on this night and laugh. I really wouldn’t be me if things like this never happened…
I hope everyone that celebrates has a very, very Happy Hanukkah!
Fore more info on Hanukkah:
http://www.history.com/videos/history-of-hanukkah#history-of-hanukkah
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