If you know what you’re looking at, a picture of a ten-meter-tall menorah raised by a crane into the Berlin sky in front of the Brandenburg Gate still has significance. There is now open space, vehicles, and visitors behind it, where the Wall previously stood and the death belt ran. The menorah is lit. There…
Wine has not been given much thought at the Hanukkah dinner table during the most of its history in American cuisine. Perhaps Manischewitz, the thick, sweet wine that generations of American Jewish families almost automatically identify with the holiday—not because it pairs well with latkes, but rather because it was available, it was customary, and…
Located at the meeting point of the Rhône and Saône rivers, Lyon has been a manufacturing city for the most of its history. The city’s traboules, which are tiny, secret passageways that connect courtyards via apartment buildings, were mostly constructed by silk workers who had to move between workshops to protect their fabric from the…
The dreidel, which has four Hebrew letters that most Jewish toddlers learn before they completely comprehend their meaning, is little, familiar, wooden, or plastic, depending on the decade you grew up in. Shin, Hei, Gimel, and Nun. Follow the guidelines and spin it to see which letter lands face-up. It seems antiquated. It has a…
Few neighborhoods in Kochi feel as layered as Mattancherry, which has mosques and temples within walking distance of one another, Chinese fishing nets strung across the port at low tide, and spice warehouses next to Dutch colonial structures. It’s the kind of place where history didn’t arrive all at once, but rather accumulated gradually. The…
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…