Happy Hanukkah

Hanukkah is a celebration of religious freedom, a festival of lights, and a time to light the menorah and share a special holiday with friends and family for eight days.

Last night my daughter's three buddies came over to celebrate with us Hanukkah and we had such a good time. We light the menorah and I got to cook for them all the traditional dishes: latkes, Suv-ga-ni-yot (Israeli doughnuts) and other wonderful Israeli food. After dinner we played the dreidel with chocolate gelt (Yiddish for money.) I wish you all could had been here to see these kid's faces just light up from the fun they had with this old game. I don't think they enjoyed the new Rock Band 2 that my daughter got for Hanukkah as much as the dreidel.

I have to say that Hanukkah without kids is like a menorah without candles. I love having kids around they always light our home and my soul.

They say that lighting a menorah is not just to remind us of the miracle of the oil that lasted for eight days. Its also have two lessons:
1. That our job in this world is not just to bring in light, but to make others shine with their own light.
2. Each day, we have to bring in more light than we did the day before. The same way that we add a candle each day. Never stand still. Never say, "Now I've made it."

The picture above is a collection of the pictures I took of the kids last night. I created it with the hope you'll see and feel the light that these kids put in my heart.

I wish you all Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.