Chanukah 2021

This year, Chanukah fell on November 28 and some of the family living in Israel celebrated the lighting of the second candle at my home in Binyamina.

Left to right: Hanan, Beverley, Yaniv, Hadar, Ruthy, Libi, Patricia, Taya, Dave, Yoseph, Adi, Gabi and Yuval.

We were happy to finally meet Yoseph Wandel and his wife, Taya, face-to-face. Yoseph is connected to the Zmideks via his great-grandmother, Miriam, David Zmidek's sister. Miriam married Yosek Suknik in 1889. Their son Simcha had a daughter, Eva, who married Jacob Wandel; they had three children, the youngest of whom was Yoseph.

Miriam and Yosek's fourth child, Meir, married Cesia Lament whose middle son, Yitzhak, aka Koza, was one of the fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Koza's story has been documented by Jeff Kutcher and Alex Gerlis and it can be read online at the Warsaw Ghetto museum in Poland.

Beverley and Hanan Adelaar also joined us. Bev is the daughter of Minnie, one of Debbie Smith's (Gabriel's wife) sisters.

Dave was the lone Kutcher. The evening before, we'd celebrated his daughter Hadas's wedding. Thanks Dave for shooting the video.

Together with my children, Gabi and Yaniv, their respective spouses, Oren and Ruthy, and my grandchildren, Adi, Hadar, Yuval and Libi (Noam was on duty at her army base), we were a small group, which gave us the chance to get to know each other, exchange family stories and bond.

A NOTE on the meaning of Chanukah, which is often mistakenly thought of as the Jewish Christmas.

Chanukah celebrates how the Jews reclaimed sovereignty in the Land of Israel from the occupation of the Seleucid Empire led by King Antiochus, in the year 178 BCE.

The Seleucids banned Jewish worship, dietary laws and circumcision and desecrated the Holy Jewish Temple. A small bunch of rebels led by Mattitiyahu Maccabee overwhelmed the Seleucids, banishing them from the Land and liberating the Temple.

When the Maccabees rededicated the Temple, they found a single jar of oil, enough for one night only – yet, miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days and nights. This is why we light an extra candle every night for eight nights. We then sing songs recalling the bravery of the outnumbered yet ultimately triumphant Maccabees.

As is customary, we also commemorate the victory by eating. We eat foods laden with oil, such as doughnuts (Hebrew: suvganiot) and fried potato pancakes (Hebrew: levivot / Yiddish: latkes) for eight days.

On the ninth day, we diet.