{"id":9645,"date":"2014-12-12T00:00:15","date_gmt":"2014-12-12T08:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=9645"},"modified":"2014-12-10T22:53:23","modified_gmt":"2014-12-11T06:53:23","slug":"a-cure-for-menorah-malaise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2014\/12\/12\/a-cure-for-menorah-malaise\/","title":{"rendered":"A cure for menorah malaise"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reb Cantor discovers that some families, like Chelm\u2019s Gold family, light eight candles on the first night of Chanukah.\u00a0(photo by Dov Harrington from commons.wikimedia.org<\/a>)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sick of Chanukah,\u201d Reb Cantor, the merchant of Chelm, muttered. His wife, Shoshanna, looked up with surprise. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid I say that aloud?\u201d Reb Cantor paused and frowned. \u201cBut now that you ask…. I\u2019m tired of Jewish holidays. I\u2019m tired of non-Jewish holidays. I\u2019m done with giving and getting. I\u2019m bored with lighting candles and saying the same blessings over and over and over again. I\u2019m finished with wondering when Chanukah is, and I\u2019m exhausted by all the conversation about whether it\u2019s early or late. And I am so fed up with latkes and greasy food. If I never see another potato pancake in my life it won\u2019t be too soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Chanukah\u2019s a tradition,\u201d Shoshanna said. \u201cIt\u2019s a mitzvah! And is it so wrong to celebrate one of the few battles the Jews actually won?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care anymore,\u201d Reb Cantor answered. Shoshanna Cantor nodded and sighed. Her husband, Isaac, had always been prone to depression and, as the winter days got longer, his moods often got darker. Usually, she wouldn\u2019t worry, but Chanukah hadn\u2019t even started yet, and listening to him kvetch for a whole eight-day week would be too much to take.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, there\u2019s a one benefit.\u201d She smiled. \u201cIf you\u2019re not eating latkes, you\u2019ll probably lose some weight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then she rubbed his big belly and kissed his balding forehead.<\/p>\n

Reb Cantor tried to be grumpy about this too, but he couldn\u2019t help himself and snorted a laugh.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

The door of the Cantor house slammed. It was late in the afternoon of the first evening of Chanukah, and Reb Cantor was furious. He was ready to rant and rage and stomp. Not only did he hate potato latkes, he hated the way Shoshanna fried them in advance and then left them to warm in the oven until they became greasy and soggy. He sniffed the air and … there was nothing … no rancid oil or stale potato scent.<\/p>\n

\u201cShoshanna!\u201d he bellowed just as his wife appeared. \u201cWhat….\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t take off your coat,\u201d she said as she put on a wrap. \u201cWe\u2019re not having dinner at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to the Chelm Chanukah party!\u201d Reb Cantor barked. \u201cMrs. Chaipul\u2019s latkes always make me queasy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not till tomorrow night anyway,\u201d she said. \u201cCome with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then she walked out. He had no choice but to follow.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t far to the Gold house. The poor cobbler lived with his many children in a home that had been completely rebuilt after it had accidentally won the sukkah contest several years before.<\/p>\n

Shoshanna knocked on the door, and then went in. Clearly, they were expected.<\/p>\n

Reb Cantor frowned and stomped his feet on the stoop in frustration.<\/p>\n

A quiet voice asked, \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n

Reb Cantor looked down at Reb Gold\u2019s youngest daughter, Fegi, who seemed a little frightened.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing,\u201d the merchant said, softening his voice. \u201cI\u2019m just making sure my boots are clean before I come inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh,\u201d the little girl said. \u201cMama makes us take them off so we don\u2019t track mud or scratch the floors.\u201d She beckoned to a stack of shelves on the wall that were filled with shoes and boots.<\/p>\n

Reb Cantor forced a smile, and sat on a bench.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that amazing smell?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cLatkes!\u201d the girl said with delight. \u201cMama\u2019s making them and everybody\u2019s gobbling them as fast as they come out of the pan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou eat before the candles are lit?\u201d the merchant said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPapa says that since Chanukah is so late this year and there are so many people to feed that we should eat while the oil\u2019s hot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, they\u2019re not warmed-over and limp?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re hot and crispy!\u201d Fegi grinned. \u201cWith delicate, lacy edges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reb Cantor\u2019s mouth watered, despite his attempts to be angry and upset.<\/p>\n

He padded his stocking feet into the kitchen full of the Gold family, large and small.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere, eat this,\u201d Esther Gold said, popping a tiny warm latke into his mouth before he could say a word. \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t want it to get cold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reb Cantor couldn\u2019t speak because of the savory explosions in his mouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re just in time for the blessings,\u201d Joshua Gold said.<\/p>\n

The room fell silent. Even the oil stopped sizzling.<\/p>\n

Soon it was filled with the song of the blessings. Each child harmonized and, as soon as he had chewed and swallowed the delicious bite, Reb Cantor couldn\u2019t help himself and joined in.<\/p>\n

Each of the Gold children and both their parents lit a candle until eight lights and the shammos were burning brightly. The sun had set and there was no other light in the room but the glow from the stove and the tall tapers in the middle of the long table.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy does your family light eight candles on the first night of Chanukah?\u201d Reb Cantor asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cChanukah celebrates a miracle,\u201d Reb Gold said. \u201cAnd my family is a miracle. That we are together is a blessing. That we have a house and food and enough money to buy so many candles is a blessing. Chanukah is a golden holiday. The latkes are golden. The light from the candles is golden. And this is the Gold house. We are so fortunate it would be a shame not to celebrate that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reb Cantor looked at his wife, who was smiling at him. He did his best to hold back his tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cBesides,\u201d Fegi said brightly. \u201cIf we only lit one candle it would be dark.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everyone laughed. Latkes were made, dreidels were spun, and the cold dark night was made warm and bright.<\/p>\n

The End.<\/p>\n

Mark Binder<\/em><\/strong> is the author of the award-winning Life in Chelm series, which includes<\/em> A Chanukah Present, The Brothers Schlemiel and Matzah Mishugas. His latest book is<\/em> Cinderella Spinderella. A professional storyteller, he regularly performs at synagogues, Jewish community centres and the National Yiddish Book Centre.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reb Cantor discovers that some families, like Chelm\u2019s Gold family, light eight candles on the first night of Chanukah.\u00a0(photo by Dov Harrington from commons.wikimedia.org) \u201cI\u2019m sick of Chanukah,\u201d Reb Cantor, the merchant of Chelm, muttered. His wife, Shoshanna, looked up with surprise. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with it?\u201d \u201cDid I say that aloud?\u201d Reb Cantor paused and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[781],"tags":[2517,2648,2647],"class_list":["post-9645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holidays","tag-chanukah","tag-chelm","tag-latkes"],"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\/9645","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=9645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}