Kindling The Lights

Last night was the second night of the 8 day celebration of Hanukkah.  I feel very fortunate and blessed to be able to celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas with my family.  Every Monday night our family sets aside the time to join each other around the table and we have dinner together.  Last night was one of those “family dinners”.

Of course, on this occasion of Hanukkah we had latkes (Jewish potato pancakes) with our dinner.

Then after the meal was over my grandson, Jeremy and husband Randy, put on their kippahs (Jewish head coverings for men and boys) and Jeremy lit the candles on the menorah.

Hanukkah lighting the menorah from Two Chums on Vimeo.

Then came the children’s favorite part of the evening, they received their gifts.  If you aren’t familiar with the celebration of Hanukkah and it’s significance, you can read about it here in the post about latkes.  One of the customs of Hanukkah is that there is a gift given to family members each night of the holiday.|

You can see from these sweet faces that they are delighted even with small gifts.

Everyone, from the very young, to the very young at heart, enjoyed the evening and the chance to honor our Jewish family and celebrate with them.

These are the moments that add so much love and joy and make our lives very rich and abundant indeed!