C'mon Baby Light My Fire

People always ask me why Hanukkah falls on a different day every year. To which I respond that it falls on the same day every year; the 25th day of the third month (Kislev) on the Hebrew calendar. It just doesn't line up correctly with the Gregorian calendar that we use. (Needless to say, Lev got a kick out the name of that month when we read about Hannuka recently.)

They also ask why Chanukah is spelled so many different ways, to which I respond that Hanuka is always spelled the same way: חנוכה

Our menorah fits together like a little puzzle. In prior years, the boys always enjoyed piecing it together for the holiday and now it is Molloy's turn. Every time she puts it together, she asks me to mix it up for her to do again. If I can do that for 8 days without losing my mind it will be a miracle.

Hannukah is a wonderful holiday. It teaches children to play with fire at an early age, that money is actually made out of chocolate, and you can use a dreidel as an introduction to gambling. And given that you add the candles from right to left and then light them from left to right and then watch them burn from top to bottom, it teaches them a lot about directions; something my kids would otherwise have no sense of following.

HAPPY חנוכה. Now let's all kiss Lev!