Hanukkah this year shares the spotlight with Christmas and New Years running from the eve of December 24 through the eve of January 1.
The festival of lights (Hanukkah,) from a religious perspective, is a relatively minor one in the unofficial guide to Jewish Holidays. But when there are monsters involved, it rises to the TOP of the of the list.
It is 8 crazy nights of, as Adam Sandler cheerfully sings to us, candle lighting, present giving, potato latke eating, fun festivities. There is a little story telling of the wonder of the oil burning for 8 nights when there was only enough for one. A new twist has a certain Mensch sitting watch to ensure the flames stayed lit, as the story is told.
Mensch on a Bench
The Elf on the Shelf’s Distance Cousin
In the first few years of the Elf on a Shelf, the monsters were green with envy that their friends had this fun magical Christmas tradition and they did not. Much to our delight, a few years ago, a clever entrepreneur went on Shark Tank in response to the phenomena of the Elf on the Shelf, and the Mensch was born! Same concept and silly outfit, but a few less days for the hubs and I to come up with creative and fun antics for Chester the Mensch.
‘Tis the Season
There are challenges during the holiday season with monsters who feel as though they are missing out. Before we moved to South Texas we always shared Christmas with Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles who do celebrate Christmas. The monsters helped decorate the trees and had stockings over the fireplace. Distance keeps us from those relatives this time of year, and now the Hubs and I are struggling with how to answer their plea for a Hanukkah tree and Mensch stockings. It may seem insignificant, they are after all just symbols of the season, but to them it means something, so we are having a good think on it. I wonder if someone will go on Shark Tank soon and help this mamma out. Sooner rather than later would be good!
While we ponder our holiday challenge, we get down the boxes and boxes of decorations and get to work on our holiday shopping. Eight nights of gift exchanges takes some serious planning! We put twinkly lights in all the windows and set-up multiple menorahs. Everyone has their favorites. Finally, the yummiest part, lots of holiday cookies are baked and consumed (Hubs favorite are Reese’s cups baked in chocolate chip cookie dough)!
