Our rabbi, Rabbi Bassous, gave 5 reasons why the rabbis chose to celebrate the miracle of the oil on Chanukah. An alternative question might be: Why emphasize the oil instead of the military victory?
(My apologies if I restate any of his talk incorrectly).
Humility: in crushing the olive to make the oil, we learn humility. We should learn to be humble in our lives.
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.
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.
Oil floats to the top: if we are good, hardworking people, we can rise above in society.
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).
Yesterday it rained and then it poured and then it drizzled. During one of the drizzles, I spotted a cardinal pecking away at my compost. I ran to get my camera, and when I came back, it was in this small tree.
Almost as soon as I saw it, the cardinal flapped away.
In contrast to all the rain we got on the East Coast, Israel has been having a very dry, dry spell. Here’s a photo from our 2008 trip to the Dead Sea:
Tomorrow night, December 1, is the first night of Chanukah. Are you ready? Set up those chanukiot, bought those potatoes and oil, found last year’s dreidels? If you celebrate Chanukah and own a camera: take a photo, post it on your blog and submit it to JPiX.
An unknown number of 8 year old girls will be descending (ascending? proceeding to? invading? gracing?) our home on Sunday morning. A treasure hunt has been prepared by middle son, and I will be short order cook in charge of latke and sufganiyot (doughnuts) creation.
We are looking forward to Shabbat guests that we haven’t seen since we visited them in their home in Hashmonaim in 2008.
Last summer we visited Mount Vernon, Virginia, home of George Washington. The estate is now an educational tourist attraction, and I learned all about how wonderful George Washington was, which left me feeling – could the man do nothing wrong? It is certainly important that instead of grabbing power and declaring himself king, as he could have since he had control of the army, he just said I’ll be president for 8 years and then I’m done. He also let free his slaves after he died, but one friend pointed out, that was after he no longer needed them. My son, who is studying AP American History this year, said he wasn’t a very good general, or else his army wouldn’t have been in such sorry shape when they were about to cross the Delaware. He was a good speaker, and so he roused them up for that one more important battle.
The photo shows the outside of his home facing the Potomac River. A man in a red shirt conveniently was surveying the scene just so I could use this for Ruby Tuesday:
One would think, the closer you get to a tree the more sharply one can see the beautiful foliage. Last week I discovered that when I got close to a beautifully red, yellow and orange leafed maple, the leaves that were against the blue sky already looked damaged and faded, while the ones closer to the trunk were still vibrant, colorful and youthful.
Close to the tree trunk, the colors range from yellow to bright red.
Further from the base of the tree, the leaves are darker and browned at the edges.
Since Michelle invited the animals to her Thanksgiving feast, I am inviting the few flowers left in my yard: the chrysanthemum, the marigolds, white alyssum, rudbeckia and petunias.
I am happy the marigolds have been able to withstand some of the frosty nights we have experienced. A few rudbeckia are trying to bloom in late November.
Most of my mum flowers have browned, but a few stragglers bloomed late and decorate my yard.
My kale experiment is going well. The kale I planted in August from seed is gracefully adorning my front yard. The kale in the back, however, seems to be a Thanksgiving feast for some animals, as it is nibbled away.
Pumpkin, detail from watercolor painting of Three Squash, 2009
Or any other holiday or reason to gather and eat. I like collecting recipes. Maybe one day I’ll actually try some of these.
Bake the potatoes for over an hour. Take them out of the oven when you can stick a fork in them. Eat a few of them, but make sure you have at least 4 large ones left for this recipe. When they are cool, you can either stick them in the refrigerator for a day or two, or continue with the recipe right away. Cut up the potatoes in cubes, without the skin. Toss them in oil and ketchup (or tomato sauce). Sprinkle with salt and spices. Bake for about twenty minutes. Serve warm.
