This Chanukah, as
every year, Baltimore will be ablaze not only with the lights of the menorah
but also with fond Chanukah memories from across the globe.
A Village in Germany
Mrs. Irma
Pretsfelder grew up in a village of only two Jewish families, about 50 miles
north of Frankfurt, Germany. She was almost 13 years old, in 1939, when her
family fled the country for England. “Our family didn’t make that much of
Chanukah,” recalls Mrs. Pretsfelder. “We lit the candles and sang “Moaz Tzur,” but as far as giving gifts,
it didn’t happen in our house – there was no Chanukah gelt or gifts. My mother hand-grated her potato latkes and made her
own donuts from scratch, with yeast. They were deep fried, unfilled, and dipped
in sugar. How we loved them! We didn’t play dreidel; I learned that over here.
It also wasn’t the custom to put our menorah in the window. Here I do, because
everybody else does. During Hitler’s time, we were afraid of repercussions; we
certainly didn’t have it in the window.”
In the Shadow of Islam
One of Baltimore’s
newest residents, Lisette Young, grew up in the 1960s in Damascus, Syria; she
moved to the States in 1985. Unlike Mrs. Pretsfelder’s family, Lisette’s family
lit their menorahs in the window. Fortunately, the only possible window low
enough to light their menorahs in faced their courtyard. In the old city, where
their house was located, courtyards were typically in the center of these
hundreds-of-years-old homes.
Says Lisette, “We
always lit oil, not candles, on Chanukah. We lit the half-oil half-water
mixture in small food jars that were repurposed for our menorah using cotton wicks
that we rolled ourselves. In addition to singing “Hanairos Hallalu,” as the Ashkenazim do, we would say, “Mizmor Shir Chankukas Habayis.” After
lighting, we ate sweets – pastries that my mother fried in oil -- awama (picture a small, glazed donut
hole), and kataif (picture a pancake
stuffed either fried with walnuts and glazed, or filled with ricotta cheese,
and folded into a half-moon shape). We got together with family for dinner, but
nothing out of the ordinary. It was a small Yom Tov. We definitely did not
exchange gifts on Chanukah; typically, we exchanged money or gifts on Purim.”
An English Childhood
Mrs. Chana
Bamberger shares these childhood recollections, growing up in the 1940s, in
London, England. “We played dreidel with 10 hazelnuts – in the shell – rather
than money. Our family did not have donuts or latkes. My mother made spiced
Chanukah cookies; I didn’t know anything about donuts. We weren’t big on gift
giving at all; we didn’t have any money to buy presents, anyway. We would light
the menorah, with candles rather than oil (we didn’t have oil to burn – oil was
a luxury!), sing “Maoz Tzur,” and play
a couple of games. We played (the original!) Monopoly for hours, and Shock, a
stocks and shares game. We always played games after licht benching; we didn’t do any work after benching licht, probably for more than the required half-hour.”
Better than a Fiesta
My LinkedIn buddy,
Dalia Brunschwig, who presently lives with her family in Zurich, Switzerland,
grew up in Madrid, Spain, in the 1980s. She reminisces about her childhood
Chanukah: “I remember always looking forward to Chanukah! The winter days were
cold but sunny, and although we had school, there was always a special program;
it was so much fun. Every year, there would be a craft chanukiah competition where kids brought in the creative chanukiot they made themselves. By the
last day, there would be a big party, where the 20 best would make it to the finals,
and three winners would be announced and get a prize. Although I don't remember
the prizes, I remember that big long table by the school entrance where all the
kids could place their creations with their names and let them be appreciated
by all the kids and teachers. We would stand by this long table during break
time and guess who would win and if we would make it to the top 20. When I was
10, I won second prize. I was so excited! I still remember that cute chanukiah; it was a piece of tree trunk
wood with eight handmade paper boats colored with different watercolors laid
out across the trunk.
“At home, we lit
candles every night and played bingo to win some coins as demei Chanukah (Chanukah gelt),” continues Dalia. “My mother made buñuelos (Moroccan donuts), and we ate
them together with Moroccan tea (strong peppermint leaves with water and
sugar). When I was a kid, there were no kosher bakeries in Madrid selling sufganiyot, so we were so grateful to my
mum for her homemade goodies that even today I make for my kids. Although they
have the chance to buy kosher donuts with all types of flavors, they still look
forward to the homemade buñuelos.
“We never got
presents because it was associated with Xmas, and my parents preferred giving
us money. And when Chanukah fell at the end of December and we were off school
in Spain, we sometimes traveled to Israel and really enjoyed the atmosphere in
the streets and the different smells at the bakeries and coffee shops.”
A Balmy Holiday
J.S. notes, “In
Australia, Chanukah is in the summer. Usually, we weren’t in school; sometimes
we were actually in camp. I remember when we benched Chanukah licht in
camp. It was very late – about 9 p.m. It was very different for me when I came
to the States, and all of the sudden Chanukah was in the winter and early. Even
making Chanukah parties in Australia was different – the gatherings would be
earlier in the day and they would end off with lighting the menorah.”
Chanukah in a Sombrero
Devorah Leah
Mayzlesh and her husband, Rabbi Yosef Mayzlesh, were Chabad sheluchim in Mexico City. Together, they
helped make warm Chanukah memories for their community. Devorah Leah explains:
“Chanukah is one of the most exciting and busy times of the year in Mexico
City! Every Chanukah we maee a big menorah lighting by El Angel de la Independence – kind of like the Statue of Liberty of
Mexico – and we included a show for kids before lighting the menorah. We invited
ambassadors from all over the world, and it was extremely important that we
follow the rules of which country to introduce first, depending on the rank of
importance they have in the embassy. One year, we had a Russian magician
performing, and the Ukrainian ambassador attended as well. So, the magician
stayed as far away as possible from him since their two countries had been at
war for years. The Malaysian ambassador asked to attend even though Malaysia
did not have diplomatic relations with Israel. She brought us a beautiful
Malaysian scarf as well as a DVD with music from her country. The Azerbaijan
ambassador presented me with a beautiful menorah from Azerbaijan.”
Closer to Home
Chanukah is fun
for children in America, too.
“When I was a kid,
I remember traveling from Chicago to Detroit to be with my grandparents for
Chanukah!” shares Shani Shuvalsky. “It was always such a special time! My
parents would put me in school for the few days I was there since Bais Yehuda
had school and my friends were there. We would have a grab bag, and I would
learn different things than I learned in my school in Chicago. My grandparents
gave us small but fun presents every night, and I really enjoyed that time!”
Laya Bitman’s
parents loved celebrating Yamim Tovim together. The best joy they had was seeing
her and her brother happy. “They wanted us to have more memories than just
getting gifts, so they came up with a game of hide-and-seek every night,” Laya
reminisces. “While we were at school, they would hide the presents, one for
each of us each night of Chanukah. When we got home, we would light the candles,
and then the game began. My brother and I would start with one clue each about
the location of our gift for that night. Then we searched around and helped
each other find our gifts. We had so much fun trying to get the next clue if we
couldn't figure it out. I remember one time the gift was not even in the house!
“We both waited
until the other found their gift before ripping apart the wrapping paper.
Usually there would be one expensive present while the others were simple but
fun. It was always more fun to spend time together and watch my parents enjoy
the game as much as we enjoyed the gifts every night. The gelt was given in a grab bag form in envelopes with amounts ranging
from 50 cents to $5, usually in uneven amounts of change, and we had a lot of
laughs as we counted it up. My father was an expert at dreidels, and they flew
all over the kitchen floor as we tried to get them to spin upside down. It may
have been far from traditional, but they were some of the best times having fun
together as a family, and that was what Chanukah was about for me.”
Last but not
least, I asked my 10-year-old granddaughter, Tehila Pensak, about some of her
favorite childhood Chanukah memories. The first one that came to mind was
celebrating the holiday together with her special new neighbors, Teta and Jeddo
– the Arabic names for grandmother and grandfather, respectively, which she
fondly calls her maternal grandparents, Lisette and Michael Young.
“Every Chanukah,
when Teta and Jeddo lived in Silver Spring, we would drive there and sleep over
one night and have a Chanukah party with my cousins.”
When I questioned
my machetainista if she serves the homemade sweet treats that she grew
up eating back in Syria, Lisette admitted she does not know how to make them.
“I serve bought donuts and candies, instead.”
Whatever your age,
stage, or locale – whether you commemorate Chanukah by eating sufganiyot, buñuelos or awama – when
you celebrate Chanukah 5782, keep in mind that you are creating fond memories
for years to come. A freilichen
Chanukah!
