Conversation – 16

@shoelady60,

Good Evening. 😘😎

Let me upgrade you. 🤣

Hanukkah – The Jewish Festival of Lights

It is customary to place the lit Hanukkah Menorah next to a window so that the light can be seen by passers by.

The Jewish Festival of Hanukkah (Heb: חנוכה) begins on the eve of the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev and is celebrated for 8 days. Hanukkah is known as the Festival of Lights, a Jewish holiday that commemorates the Israelites (the Maccabees) victory over the oppressive Syrian-Greek rule by the king, Antiochus and the re-dedication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

The Temple needed to be cleansed, a new altar needed to be built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels to be made. When the Israelites went to light the Temple’s menorah (candelabra), they found only a single measure of olive oil that would burn for only one day. Miraculously, that one-day’s supply burned for eight days – enough time for new oil to be prepared so that it was suitable for this ritual.

The Dreidel game

At the heart of the festival is the lighting of an 8 branched menorah or Hanukkiah every night: a single flame on the first night, two on the second evening, and so on till the eighth night of Hanukkah, when all eight lights are kindled. A 9th branch and candle, called a shamash is also lit each night and its purpose is to light the other candles. It is given a distinct location on the menorah, usually above or below the others.

Hanukkah customs include eating fried foods; latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiot (jam filled doughnuts); playing with a dreidel (a spinning top on which are inscribed the Hebrew letters nun, gimmel, hei and shin, an acronym for Nes Gadol Hayah Sham, “a great miracle happened there”); and the giving of money gifts to children or Hanukkah gelt.

We learn some timeless lessons from the story of Hanukkah: light triumphs over darkness, purity over desecration and freedom over oppression.

Yep it sure is 2018 I don’t want to think about this year. 😘😎

Last Christmas – Wham

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone special
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone special
Once bitten and twice shy
I keep my distance
But you still catch my eye
Tell me, baby
Do you recognize me?
Well, it’s been a year
It doesn’t surprise me
(Merry Christmas!) I wrapped it up and sent it
With a note saying, “I love you, ” I meant it
Now, I know what a fool I’ve been
But if you kissed me now
I know you’d fool me again
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone special
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone special
A crowded room, friends with tired eyes
I’m hiding from you, and your soul of ice
My god, I thought you were someone to rely on
Me? I guess I was a shoulder to cry on
A face on a lover with a fire in his heart
A man under cover but you tore me apart
Now, I’ve found a real love you’ll never fool me again
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone special
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone special
A face on a lover with a fire in his heart
A man under cover but you tore him apart
Maybe next year I’ll give it to someone
I’ll give it to someone special