{"id":22389,"date":"2016-12-16T01:40:28","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T09:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=22389"},"modified":"2016-12-15T10:13:55","modified_gmt":"2016-12-15T18:13:55","slug":"the-genie-in-the-chanukiyah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2016\/12\/16\/the-genie-in-the-chanukiyah\/","title":{"rendered":"The genie in the chanukiyah"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alan Dean was the world\u2019s largest manufacturer and distributor of Chanukah menorahs.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou what!\u201d Zoe\u2019s father was yelling at her. Again. \u201cYou traded my lamp?\u201d<\/p>\n

Nothing Zoe did seemed good enough for Dad. Her room was too messy. Her grades weren\u2019t high enough. Her clothes were too expensive, too ratty or too \u201cinappropriate.\u201d He was always screaming at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t mean \u2026\u201d Zoe began. She gazed into the first light burning on the new chanukiyah and tried to hold back the tears.<\/p>\n

Ever since her mother had died, Zoe had tried to take good care of her father. Only 12 and a half, she wasn\u2019t a good cook. She didn\u2019t like cleaning the toilets. But all she wanted was to help.<\/p>\n

Her dad\u2019s office was a mess. The whole house was a mess. Alan Dean was the world\u2019s largest manufacturer and distributor of Chanukah menorahs. There were candelabras all over the place. They were in the bedrooms, the kitchen, dining room, living room, even in the bathrooms. Every single morning, there was shouting about something that had gone missing: a wallet, keys, a cellphone, a cleaning bill, a shoe.\u2026<\/p>\n

That morning, Zoe had taken a black plastic garbage bag into the office to clean out some clutter. Which was when she got a weird text on her phone.<\/p>\n

\u201c@Jenny.Hunter New Lamps for Old. Want to trade?\u201d<\/p>\n

Zoe happened to be staring at this old, dusty and tarnished chanukiyah on her father\u2019s bookshelf. It was squat and primitive. Her father hadn\u2019t touched it in years.<\/p>\n

Before she could think too much, she replied and, a moment later, there was a knock at the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in the neighborhood,\u201d Jenny said, smiling into the video intercom. She was a well-dressed woman, a little old, and her teeth could use braces. \u201cDo you have a lamp to trade?\u201d<\/p>\n

Zoe was careful. \u201cLet me see yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman opened an aluminum suitcase from which she pulled a beautiful stainless steel Chanukah menorah. It was very sharp and very shiny.<\/p>\n

Zoe nodded and opened the door a crack. \u201cWhy would you trade that for an old lamp?\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman smiled again. \u201cCall it a present. Or an almost free sample, with the hope that your father will buy more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now Zoe smiled. Dad always liked a bargain. She nodded, took the steel menorah and gave the woman the old brass one.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally it is mine!\u201d the woman said with something that sounded like a cackle.<\/p>\n

Before Zoe could change her mind, the woman was gone. It was as if she had vanished.<\/p>\n

That evening, her father was distracted. He didn\u2019t even notice the new chanukiyah until after they\u2019d said the blessings and Zoe lit the candles.<\/p>\n

Then he saw it. \u201cWhere did that come from?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI traded it for your old lamp,\u201d Zoe answered, happily.<\/p>\n

Her father rushed into the office. When he came back, he began yelling.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou went into my private space and\u2026. Don\u2019t you start,\u201d Dad shouted. \u201cDon\u2019t you start quivering that lower lip. Don\u2019t you start tearing up.\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Which was when Zoe lost it.<\/p>\n

Alan Dean stared as his beautiful daughter cried.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t know what to do. He never knew what to do.<\/p>\n

For seven generations, the Dean family had produced boys, and the story had been passed from father to son at the bar mitzvah. The lamp was found in a cave. A genie inside gave each owner three dangerous wishes \u2013 guard the magic lamp and use it well.<\/p>\n

When his daughter was born, Alan was surprised, even upset.<\/p>\n

His wife forbade him from calling her Aileen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has to stop sometime,\u201d Shana had said. \u201cA new girl, a new beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

And she was right. Al\u2019s life, which was always about business, had broadened into a wonderful family, until Shana had passed.<\/p>\n

Alan hadn\u2019t told his daughter that their fortune was based on a magical lamp. Zoe wasn\u2019t 13 yet, and he didn\u2019t want her to laugh, but mostly because Shana had been the last one to touch it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake enough so we are happy,\u201d Shana had said as she rubbed the chanukiyah. \u201cAnd not a single one more.\u201d<\/p>\n

The genie, which was now barely a flicker said, \u201cYour wish is my command.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instantly, the entire factory was automated, with only enough jobs to keep all the existing employees busy, while increasing production tenfold. The whole system was computerized and efficient. Orders came in, and candlesticks went out. No one worked too hard. The bank accounts swelled. It was every businessman\u2019s dream!<\/p>\n

Then Shana had gotten sick and, in one day, she died.<\/p>\n

Alan\u2019s world collapsed. After a week of shiva, when he\u2019d finally wandered into his office, he saw the lamp on the shelf and his heart broke.<\/p>\n

Could a wish have saved her? In the mournful chaos, he had completely forgotten the power of the lamp. He couldn\u2019t bear to touch it, and it had gathered dust on the shelf. His wife was gone, but he still had his work. He had thrown himself back into it, and barely had any time for his daughter.<\/p>\n

Now the lamp that had sustained his family for centuries was gone, too, and he knew that the factory would soon go silent.<\/p>\n

Zoe stood in front of him, tears running down her face.<\/p>\n

How could he do this to her? Yes, he was unhappy, but his daughter didn\u2019t have to be.<\/p>\n

Shana had known. \u201cMake enough so we are happy,\u201d she had wished. \u201cAnd not a single one more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alan thought for a moment. His mind tallied the amounts in the bank, the value of the factory and the land. The good will of the Alan Dean brand name. He would sell it all. It would be enough.<\/p>\n

Alan wrapped his arms around Zoe\u2019s shoulders and pulled her close. He hadn\u2019t done that in years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s OK,\u201d he said. \u201cLet me tell you the story of that lamp. It has always been a story of magic and wealth, greed and fear, but now I think for us there will be a happy ending.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zoe felt warm and safe in her father\u2019s arms.<\/p>\n

The lights from the Chanukah candles flickered.<\/p>\n

The End.<\/p>\n

Mark Binder<\/strong> is a Jewish author and storyteller who tours the world sharing stories for all ages. His life in Chelm stories and his latest collection, <\/em>Transmit Joy! an audio storybook, are available on audio download and CD.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alan Dean was the world\u2019s largest manufacturer and distributor of Chanukah menorahs. \u201cYou what!\u201d Zoe\u2019s father was yelling at her. Again. \u201cYou traded my lamp?\u201d Nothing Zoe did seemed good enough for Dad. Her room was too messy. Her grades weren\u2019t high enough. Her clothes were too expensive, too ratty or too \u201cinappropriate.\u201d He was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[781],"tags":[2517,5017,3429],"class_list":["post-22389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holidays","tag-chanukah","tag-chanukiyah","tag-family"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}