Saturday night was the last night of Hannukah. There's something very comforting about eating dinner with so many candles burning, and leaving them to burn down late into the night. Each year that Hannukah ends I promise myself that I will do this more often, light lots of candles, when it's cold outside and I'm cranky, or when I just want to give myself a treat. But I've tried, and lighting menorahs in February just isn't the same. There's a certain magic and charm in knowing that people all over the world are lighting candles and spending time together on these nights, and have been doing so for thousands of years.
This was the first year that Hannukah and Christmas really sunk in for Roan. We've been seeing Christmas trees and decor for weeks now, and eventually I felt it was time to explain to him that we are Jews, and Christmas is not for us. I probably did this all wrong - I should have got some advice before launching into this conversation which I was completely unprepared for - because how do you break this kind of news, that sorry kid, all this widespread commercialized happiness is not for you. Instead you get candles and latkes and eight nights of presents. Roan thought it over for a few days. Then he announced that he didn't want to be Jewish anymore. When I asked why he said, "because Christmas is better than Hannukah, just a little bit."
We spent this Hannukah talking about all the beautiful and unique aspects of Judaism. It was a shorter conversation than you might think, given my limited knowledge. I also realized: maybe I don't care whether Roan chooses a Jewish life for himself. I'm giving him a Jewish upbringing and education, and he can do what he wants with it. Except, he wasn't allowed to discard it as a 4-years-old because of Christmas envy. Thankfully, at the end of eight nights of presents and lots of stories, Roan seems more amenable to being Jewish.
We lit two menorahs this year, one that Roan made at school, and the bicycle menorah. Roan's menorah was made from nine shot glasses with photos of him wrapped around the glass, and tea lights inside. Adorable as it is, the design is terrible. A tea light shamash is useless, and on the last night I went through about 15 matches trying to get all the candles lit. Since we won't be using this menorah again, here are some photos so we can always remember it:
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