In the past, celebrating Hanukkah in the United Arab Emirates required driving into the desert, erecting a menorah on the sand, and hoping for seclusion. In the distance, camels passed. The community was tiny, cautious, and mostly undetectable. 2010 was the year. Menorahs, blue-and-silver holiday displays, and kosher gift baskets are placed next to checkout…
There’s something almost comical about the idea that one of history’s most consequential military campaigns helped popularize a children’s spinning top. But the story of how the dreidel found its way across the breadth of Europe owes a quiet debt to Napoleon Bonaparte — not because he had any interest in Jewish folk games, but…
For many years, the Hanukkah section in the majority of American stores was either an accident or an afterthought. An isolated endcap by the Christmas aisle. Menorah candle boxes. Additionally, matzoh, the Passover flatbread that has nothing to do with the Festival of Lights, is almost always included in the holiday display. It seems as…
A young professional is practicing bouncing a four-sided top off a wooden table and attempting to land it upside down somewhere in a rented event space in Washington, D.C. He has been working on it for the past two weeks. If he prevails, he will receive a personalized trophy and the unofficial title of “Dreidel…
A dish that no one quite anticipated is emerging somewhere between a pajeon and a potato pancake, and it’s becoming more and more common on food blogs, Instagram reels, and holiday tables. One of the most talked-about Hanukkah innovations in recent memory is the Korean-Jewish fusion latke, a crispy marriage of grated potato, kimchi, and…
When something happens to an item, such as a fire, theft, or a clumsy accident during a holiday gathering, their absence creates a wound that no insurance company check can heal. These items are left on a shelf for eleven months out of the year, untouched and sometimes hardly noticed. One of those items is…
In Antwerp, there is a section of Hoveniersstraat where the buildings have an almost aggressively plain appearance. Built in the 1960s, this flat-fronted building has beige and grey facades that might be found in an insurance office park. However, the men in dark suits walking quickly with briefcases chained to their wrists, the groups of…
A certain kind of obsession only affects those who are already aware of the complexity of seemingly simple things. That type of person is retired Boston University astrophysicist Kenneth Brecher. Like all children at Hanukkah, he spent his childhood spinning dreidels at his neighborhood synagogue, tossing them on tables, and gambling chocolate coins. The spinning…
Being one of the first people on the planet to light a Hanukkah candle every year is subtly amazing. New Zealand’s Jewish community celebrates more than just the Festival of Lights because of the country’s location, which is just west of the International Date Line. They let it open. The menorah flames that flicker to…
Although it has been evident for decades, there is a peculiar imbalance in Hollywood that hardly anyone discusses in public. From Rudolph to The Nightmare, animated holiday entertainment is entirely dominated by Christmas. The other winter holidays hardly make an appearance on the screen, from Christmas to every streaming original that was released in November….