Here is the chanukiah on the last night of the holiday. You can tell it is the last night because one typically lights from left to right, and that chanukiah is going to get filled with light all the way to the very end! The other light in the photos are from our other chanukiot (or their reflections).

Thursday Challenge theme is Light (Photos of beautiful light, reflecting, shining through, colourful,…).

Same son gave a d’var Torah (words of Torah) today in front of our shul. The gist of it was, one of the reasons if you are not Jewish that you may know about Chanukah is that we Jews have an obligation for what is called persumei nisa, publicity of the miracle. This obligation is unique to the holiday of Chanukah, and the reason can be found in history. The Assyrian Greeks wanted to the Hellenize the Jews, and they were a powerful force. The Jews had not had an adversary like this one before, one which worshiped the body and beauty. In reaction we are obligated to publicize that we are not accepting Hellenization by lighting the candles in front of a window and showing our Judaism.

There is a game with the dreidel that involves pennies and taking the pot of pennies if you get a gimel, giving it in if you get a shin, half the pot for heh, but it is all luck. My kids just spin them and spin them and spin them. What do you do with your dreidels?

I did the above drawing with black marker, then I colored it in with Photoshop. I promised my daughter she could color in the original with colored pencil. If she does, I will post that version as well.

Radish, Kale, Parsely in watercolor by Leora Wenger, 2011

So here are some salad dressing ideas:

• Olive oil, raw apple cider vinegar, sea salt, turmeric, pepper and garlic powder
• Olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper
• Ilana-Davita’s Sweet and Tangy Dressing (balsamic vinegar, olive oil, sweet chili sauce, salt and pepper)
• Rachel: crushed garlic, dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, dried oregano (if your kids don’t mind “green stuff”) and olive oil
• Rachel: lemon juice, cumin, salt and pepper, and olive oil
• Olive oil, honey, mustard, a little orange juice and a little vinegar, salt and pepper.
• Ilana-Davita: balsamic vinegar, olive oil, soya sauce, lime juice, salt and pepper
• Sandy: Cilantro or basil in the blender with vinegar and olive oil.

Get the idea? How do you dress your salad? If you comment and it fits the olive oil category, I’ll add it to the list.

[Show as slideshow]

Just discovered one tiny technical problem with the NextGen Gallery – if I want to pin a photo (I just joined Pinterest), I have to put one directly into the post and not only use the gallery. So here’s one:

Babies

First, the babies, photos and babies by Imabima (2 on the left) and by Mottel (on the right):
     

In the Land of Israel

Three by Batya:
  

Zot Chanukah and Dovid’s Moon

Zot Chanukah by Cosmic X; Dovid’s Moon by Ruti Mizrachi (with babies on the post!)
 

From the Pirsum Project for Chanukah

All on the blog of G6:
  

On the chosid’s blog – by Leah

Antwerp, Squash, and a Duck

Ilana-Davita visited Antwerp; Hannah found a giant squash, and her daughter “did” a duck.
  

Three by Robin

  
Can you spell bougainvillea without using spell-check?

Mostly Chanukah by Leora

Past JPiX carnivals: Robin – Fall 2010 • Toby – Summer 2010 • Leora – Spring 2010 • Pesky – Winter 2010 • Leora – Fall 2009 • Batya – Summer 2009 • Leora – Spring 2009 • Ilana-Davita – Winter 2009 • Rafi – January 2009 • Mother in Israel (Hannah) – December 2008

Next one will be hosting by Ilana-Davita… sometime in the late spring. Use this form on the blog carnival site to submit your post. Thank you, Ilana-Davita!

Thank you to everyone who has thus far submitted to JPiX, the Jewish Photo Blogger’s Carnival. Here is the submission form (you have until Thursday to submit). Next edition will appear this coming Sunday on this blog.

Yesterday I went to a lovely party. Some child had taken a whole plate of fancy chocolate candies and had nibbled exactly one bite out of each one. My friend the hostess was not amused. She considered putting up a sign: for adults only. I said maybe the parent should eat the candy if the child wants to try. Of course, then my daughter took one bite of a chocolate covered marshmallow candy without realizing it was marshmallow, and I had no interest in eating it. What do you think?

I loved this: do you hear in your house – “Are you going to put that on the blog?“

And don’t forget to send your favorites to JPiX, the Jewish photo bloggers’ carnival. Next edition will be here on this blog on December 26th.

(My apologies if I restate any of his talk incorrectly).

1. Humility: in crushing the olive to make the oil, we learn humility. We should learn to be humble in our lives.
2. Permeation: Oil permeates the skin if we rub it like an ointment. Just as Joseph was involved in Egypt in a good way, so we Jews should be involved in the world around us.
3. Water and oil separate: water does not mix with oil. We should not mix in and dissolve in greater society. Joseph was involved in Egypt, but he retained his Judaism.
4. Oil floats to the top: if we are good, hardworking people, we can rise above in society.
5. Light unto others: the lighted oil is symbolic of being a light unto others.

If you need further explanation or elaboration, feel free to ask the comments (especially if you don’t celebrate Chanukah or if you just don’t understand one part of what he said – I’m open to questions).