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December 19, 2003

Carpe Noctum

Season’s Greetings?

As I get older, it’s harder to feel the spirit of Chanuka....
...Yet all too often we celebrate without really reflecting upon “nes gadol haya sham,” it was a miracle that the Jewish people are here to stay. We get so caught up with latkas, dreidels, menorahs, and Hanuka bushes (r”l), that we forget that it’s Torah that was saved. Not a culture, not simply a way of life, but a religion with a connection to the Borei Olam. The very things that the Jews eschewed we are now embracing- love of sensual pleasures. The Greeks were master sensualists. They loved the beauty of the human body. They loved food, sex, music, and else anything that felt good. Our Chanuka parties have good food, good company, and are a rollicking good time. It feels good. But it’s Togetherness! you shout. It’s Family time! Love and Brotherhood and Comraderie. But will someone say a Dvar Torah? Perhaps an obligatory short one. How about some Zmiros, some singing of Chanuka songs? Feh. Pass s’more of those latkas, Zaidy.

The Ma'alos had an article in the same vain. But hey, that's what that magazine is all about...

Have a happy Chanukkah... Whatever it means to you...

EDIT: It was in Der Blick, not Ma'alos. My apologies.

Posted by notepad at December 19, 2003 10:29 AM

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