Daphne Fautin

Hanukkah is a funny holiday in that it has become so much more important here in the United States. In reality, it is a minor holiday which celebrated the rededication of the temple of Jerusalem.  However, here in the US, it gives Jews an alternative to Christmas so that Jewish-American children and their families have something to get excited about during the December holiday season.  Oddly enough, I was in Israel about ten years ago, and found that Hanukkah had also grown in popularity there as well.  Passover, which happens around Easter-time, is a much more important holiday and much more important to me.  Oil is important at Hanukkah because the oil, that was supposed to burn for only one day, burned for eight – thus the miracle that Hanukkah celebrates. We eat latkes – potato pancakes – fried in A LOT of oil. I was disappointed in Israel to eat the fried dough balls (sufganiyot – supposedly jelly doughnuts) and found them tasteless; here we eat doughnut holes, which are much better!