Chanukah With the Moose

Chanukah began yesterday at sundown. That’s how we do it – our holidays start and end at sundown. Very solar efficient. 🙂 Over the years I’ve used a variety of chanukiot (that’s the name for the menorah that is used for Chanukah). I have my very first one – silver in tone, a long low rectangle, the shamash had a Jewish star. It was identical to the one we used at home when I was growing up. When I went off to college I bought the same one to give me a little at-home-comfort while I was away. Over the years I found other chanukiot at craft shows, Judaica shops, and, of course, the ones my son made for me at school. *grin* Those are the most precious naturally. I have 3 of them. One is a block of wood with nuts (as in bolts & nuts) as the candle holders (2 nuts for the shamash) and the other 2 are white tiles with nuts. All 3 were decorated most elegantly (um, well, not really, but mother’s love and all that). I have chanukiot that hold candles, that burn oil, that use electric light bulbs (oh wait – I just gave that one to my sister). I even have strings of dreidels and Jewish stars that light up (ah, yes, assimilation. The irony of it all – Chanukah commemorates the fundamentalists beating up the assimilationists). But until this year I have never had a moose chanukiah.

The learned among you may notice that the moose is missing a shamash. According to the literature (little poorly written book) that came with the moose, WE are the shamash. For each mitzvah we do, an antler on the moose will glow. And in case we do not do a mitzvah at the correct time and place, we can squeeze his left hind hoof and that will light up an antler. It’s an amazing world.

Happy Chanukah!