Many blessings to all of our knitter friends and their families who will begin celebrating the miracle of the oil tonight! 
Happy Hanukkah!
Merry Christmahanukwanzakkah! :happydance:
Happy Hanukkah!!
Happy Hanukkah!
My two buddies that happen to be Jewish moved away several years ago and I never got to experience this tradition. Even though I’m Catholic, I am intrigued with the way other faiths celebrate holiday seasons.
Hope you all have a wonderful celebration! 
Happy Hanukkah!
Happy hanukah
I had a jelly doughnut this morning! :teehee: I happen to be Catholic but I live in the most Jewish neighborhood in America (the Upper West Side) (well maybe). It’s where the famous Zabars is where I shop every other day and the store is full of goodies right now including the jelly doughnuts they were announcing over the speaker. I’ve lived here 12 years and I never knew until this year about eating something cooked in oil. Geez.
That menorah picture is so pretty Feministmama!
My friends rent a small apartment on the upper west side and we are always getting souvenirs from Zabars including t shirts and coffee. Chanukah food always revolves around oil which is the theme of the holiday. The jelly doughnuts are called sufganiot. Thats also the reason why we eat latkes. Thanks for the good wishhes
Thank you Jeremy for telling me that name! Now if I can just pronounce it! (they sure are tasty)
my extremely non-Jewish-friendly grocery store actually had matzo ball mix on sale AND Streit’s latke mixes BOGOF! Streit’s no less! I was tickled and of course picked some up. 
happy chanukah everyone!
The grocery stores around me put out yahrzeit candles, matzo and chicken soup mix for every Jewish holiday. :shrug:
Here too! I always tell DH “Great, we can pick up some yahrzeit candles for Chanukah!” (Or Passover, as the case may be…) It’s so clear some corporate order came down… “There’s something Jewish on the calendar… break out those candle thingies in jars and the matzoh!” :roll:
Actually, I almost fell over in shock the other day when DH came up to me in the grocery store with one of those little net bags of chocolate Chanukah gelt. Who’d expect them to actually get something right!?! :thud:
:oops: I’m a little behind on the posts but wanted to say
Happy Hanukkah!!
OT, but what really steams me is that yahrzeit candles are 99 cents a piece here and 4 for $1 down by mom’s (SE coast of Florida.) So not right! and happy chanukah again. 
anyone know where to find the candle shaped oil holders so you just fill them with oil and they have a wick and then burn longer? my chanukah candles burn for like 10 minutes, upsets me.
The only place I have been able to find them is in Judaica shops. I know the Israel Book Shop in Brookline MA will ship. Probably not in time for this year but good for next year. Make sure to buy the little wicks that float in the oil too. They also make extra long candles which burn way longer than the usual. For this year try freezing your candles, they will last longer.
My parents have one of those… I’ll send this thread to my mother and she can post where she got hers…
Judaica shops ARE the place to get the oil menorahs and the wicks. We have one and it looks lovely when it’s lit, but when the flames die out, the smell is awful. I don’t buy any special oil. We use olive oil.
I’ve been to Eichler’s both in Brooklyn and on 45th Street between 5th and 6th to buy wicks. http://www.eichlers.com/ We got our oil menorah at a silver shop in Brooklyn, but I can’t remember the name of it.
There is another traditional Chanukah food - cheese - eaten in honor Yehudis/Judith who used cheese and wine to entice a Greek general who was threatening the local Jewish population with death. She got him drunk and the cheese made him tired. He fell asleep and she cut off his head.
Time for one of the most prevalent jokes constantly circuling the globe on the Internet. Paraphrased:
The theme for most Jewish holidays: they tried to kill us, we survived. Now let’s eat.
Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwansaa and a new year filled with joy and peace for all.
[size=6][color=darkblue]Greetings from the Holly Land everyone!!![/color][/size]