With Chanukah coming early this year, more than one person has prompted me with, \u201cCan you believe it? Are you ready for the holiday?\u201d Meanwhile, on the news, we\u2019re being bombarded with concerns about supply chain management. The message from stores is, \u201cShop early! We don\u2019t have everything in stock and don\u2019t know when we\u2019re getting more!\u201d<\/p>\n
I might be the only person saying, in advance of what some people see as a huge gift-giving season: \u201cNo worries! It\u2019s all fine.\u201d Crazy, right? How could a person with kids think this?<\/p>\n
Well, last year, when things seemed stressful, I was sewing endless numbers of flannel pajama bottoms for my twins for Chanukah. They got a lot of hand-sewn and hand-knitted gifts because I was so concerned that we might not have \u201cenough.\u201d Also, they were remote schooling, and I stayed up late working because I wanted them to know that they would lack nothing, we cared about them and wanted them to feel loved despite the major disruptions in their lives.<\/p>\n
For years, I\u2019ve advocated for buying local, making things from scratch or finding second-hand stuff close to home. If anything, I\u2019ve appreciated that the pandemic made other people clean up and sell things they didn\u2019t need. My kids don\u2019t mind getting second-hand Playmobil. After all, someone else\u2019s tidying campaign meant more toys for them!<\/p>\n
For me, on a small scale, it means my kids get something they wanted and we don\u2019t have to feel guilty about buying all this plastic. We\u2019re just buying and reusing someone else\u2019s plastic purchase. That\u2019s better, right?<\/p>\n
Some of our presents have always been socks or underwear, and this year will be no different. I foresee some intangible gifts, too, like my parents\u2019 kind choice to buy us a family membership to the zoo. We\u2019ll definitely have our night or two of tzedakah <\/u>(charity) giving to the food bank or the Humane Society. We\u2019ll have our doughnuts and latkes.<\/p>\n
So, what\u2019s Jewish about all this? Well, all of it. First, my family celebrates Chanukah, full stop. And, in a year with plenty of antisemitism, it seems great to proudly celebrate a holiday that commemorates Jewish victories and religious freedom.<\/p>\n
Second, our traditions definitely suggest that the details matter \u2013 study any Torah portion and its commentaries, a page of Talmud, or just attend any Jewish organization\u2019s board meeting. Getting the small choices around gift giving or festive oily foods right matters in our worldview. Hillel and Shammai debated which way to light the menorah or chanukiyah, but nobody said, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter! Don\u2019t bother! It\u2019s all good!\u201d What we do, how we act and how we choose to observe rituals with our families \u2013 it matters.<\/p>\n
Third, in a time when so many of us have lost friends or family to COVID, or when some of us are struggling with our health, it\u2019s so great to have a happy holiday ahead. I\u2019ve always thought that the wish to gather with family and friends \u201conly at simchas<\/em>\u201d (celebrations) seemed strange, because we need our loved ones when times are hard, too. Yet, we\u2019ve all had plenty of hard times since March 2020. It\u2019s OK to hope to be celebratory. I get the \u201conly simchas\u201d thing now.<\/p>\n The return to \u201cnormal\u201d has been touted by some as very important. In my household, with kids who aren\u2019t old enough to be vaccinated yet, we\u2019re not back to normal. However, the whole supply chain breakdown is another reminder that normal wasn\u2019t really that great. Our past acquisition system took advantage of many low-wage workers, wasted tons of energy moving goods across the world, and filled up our lives with more and more stuff. It might be a time to look closer to home for presents, make things for others, and stop expecting that buying this year\u2019s \u201cit\u201d toy will make all the difference. We could all do with a little more handmade, local, small business support. Now\u2019s the time for that.<\/p>\n It\u2019s true that the supply chain disruption and the ongoing pandemic concerns make some things really difficult. If you\u2019ve had an essential appliance break down, it might be months before you can get a replacement part. If you\u2019re waiting for surgery and are in pain due to the current burdens on our healthcare system, you have all my sympathies. Worse still, if you\u2019ve lost a family member, your job, business or your health, these are seriously hard things. These are the things that matter.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know if or when normal will return. If anything, studying more Jewish texts at this time has reminded me that we\u2019re not alone in facing adversity. Throughout thousands of years, Jews have struggled with disease, forced immigration, difficulties in employment, poverty and death. It might be more useful to ask when we didn\u2019t face big disruptions to \u201cnormal.\u201d Our tradition has a lot to teach us about sticking to our ritual routines, observing holidays and caring for others in good and in hard times.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t fix politics, or war or the supply chain anxieties. I miss my U.S. family and being able to travel to see them safely, without potential COVID exposure. However, my household has gotten much better at prioritizing small things that count. Now, we\u2019re in a place where a long walk on Shabbat is a pleasure, playing outside is a gift, and new toys, tasty foods or fun surprises can be blessings for which we\u2019re grateful. Chatting with a neighbour or seeing a woodpecker \u2013 these things can now make a day a special one. These daily details and rituals matter more than any single 2021 acquisition.<\/p>\n Wishing you a happy Chanukah, full of \u201conly good\u201d details that count: oily treats, enjoyable Jewish traditions, a meaningful donation or two and gifts that makes a difference close to home.<\/p>\n Joanne Seiff<\/strong> has written regularly for CBC Manitoba and various Jewish publications. She is the author of three books, including <\/em>From the Outside In: Jewish Post Columns 2015-2016, a collection of essays available for digital download or as a paperback from Amazon. Check her out on Instagram @yrnspinner<\/a> or at joanneseiff.blogspot.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With Chanukah coming early this year, more than one person has prompted me with, \u201cCan you believe it? Are you ready for the holiday?\u201d Meanwhile, on the news, we\u2019re being bombarded with concerns about supply chain management. The message from stores is, \u201cShop early! We don\u2019t have everything in stock and don\u2019t know when we\u2019re […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[2517,20750,7282,218,8302,20987,2231],"class_list":["post-37778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-op-ed","tag-chanukah","tag-covid","tag-gratitude","tag-judaism","tag-lifestyle","tag-supply-chain","tag-talmud"],"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\/37778","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=37778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37778\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}