Tonight at sundown the fifth night of Hanukkah begins. Reflect on your own life and the lives of your family members and friends.

Place your Menorah where all who pass by can see it. Recite the Blessing. Get your Shamash, “Helper Candle” out and light it, and then light five candles, from the left to the right. Recite the blessings. Celebrate with tradition, joy and by performing a Mitzvah.

Hanukkah poetry to ponder:

Let’s be Happy
Malvine P. Hoenig

Let’s be happy, let us cheer,
Hanukkah again is here.
All the lights are shining bright,
Isn’t it a lovely sight?

You know these lights remind us
Of the time long, long ago,
When God caused one,
tiny light,
for eight long days to shine so bright.
~~~
Joyous Hanukkah!
Eva Grant

At last! At last! Hanukkah is here!
The whole house is bursting with holiday cheer.

Pancakes are sizzling as hard as they can,
Browning delectably crisp in the pan.

The dreidels can scarcely wait to be spun;
Presents are hidden for Hanukkah fun;

And there, on the table, polished and bright,
The shining menorah gleams through the night,

Like the oil lamp in ancient history,
That burned on and on miraculously!

And each flaming candle proclaims the great story
Of the Maccabean heroes, their deeds and their glory.
~~~
Happy Hanukkah!
Eva Grant

Outside, snow is slowly, softly
Falling through the wintry night.
In the house, the brass menorah
Sparkles with the candlelight.

Children in a circle listen
To the wondrous stories told,
Of the daring Maccabeans
And the miracles of old.

In the kitchen, pancakes sizzle,
Turning brown, they’ll soon be done.
Gifts are waiting to be opened,
Happy Hanukkah’s begun.
~~~
Hanukkah Quiz
Eva Grant

Why is the story of Hanukkah told?
To honor the brave Maccabeans of old.
What makes our mouths water, handed around?
Platefuls of pancakes, deliciously browned.
There are the Hanukkah gifts hidden? Well . . .
That is a secret which no one should tell!
What do we place on the table to hold
The gay-colored candles? It’s polished gold.
The shining menorah!
What comes once a year?
Hanukkah fun!
At last it is here!
~~~
Because One Hundred and Thirteen Generations

Because one hundred and thirteen generations
Of Jews lit candles for eight days and prayed
(No doubt a miracle–flames in empty jars),
Nor could they, spangled abroad like lonely stars,
Inter their music, or cull their recitations,
Each cantillated word is death delayed.

Some memories are miracles: the jars
Empty yet dancing with light, the generations
Touched also by fire, burning like distant stars,
History twinkling with their recitations
Lest words be forgotten and the future die. They prayed
On their way naked to the ovens; they prayed
Resting by Babylon’s stagnant waters; they delayed
Reeling into memory’s end, the empty jars
Aflame with words, afire with recitations,
In words their mountains, their rivers, deserts, stars;
Nations flowing towards silence, the generations
Ebbing into darkness, with candles they delayed �

Granted they seem strange. Their recitations
Are as alien as Aztec chants. The empty jars
Burning in the temple, the scattered stars
Returning eagerly each night � Whose prayers delayed
Interment in darkness? Which sunless soul prayed
Earnestly enough to light the stars?
Long has this love been borne by their generations.

Memories need candles. The recitations
Of children are like black meadows of fragrant stars
Mirroring the eyes of generations.

Eventually memories end: the sightless stars
Like coal dust blown across the darkness, the jars
Like unattended stones � God once delayed
Eight days the death of light. The people prayed.
Now night awaits the last of their recitations.

Nicholas Gordon
Copyright, Nicholas Gordon
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Jew Wishes…Peace to you all.

Once more it is time for Sky Watch Friday. I have chosen some photographs that I took of sky scenes on the interstate (freeway), in the desert and in the mountains.

Visit here to see more sky photography from around the world.

I conclude this post with a poem by the Israeli poet, Zelda

Light a Candle

Light a candle.
Drink wine.
Softly the Shabbat has plucked
The sinking sun.
Slowly the Shabbat descends,
The rose of heaven in her hand.
How can the Shabbat
Plant a huge and shining flower
In a blind and narrow heart?

How can the Shabbat plant the bud of angels
In a heart of raving flesh?
Can the rose of immortality grow
In an age enslaved to destruction,
An age enslaved
To death?
Light a candle!

Drink wine!
Slowly the Shabbat descends
And in her hand
The flower, and in her hand the sinking sun

Zelda, Israeli poet

Shabbat Shalom, everyone!
~~~~~~
All photographs were taken by me.
© Copyright 2007 – All Rights Reserved – No permission is given or allowed to reuse my photography, book reviews, writings, or my poetry in any form/format without my express written consent/permission.

Friday December 4, 2009 – 17th of Kislev, 5770

According to a February 4, 2009, Associated Press article that I read on MSNBC, it seemingly appears that Nazi war criminal and concentration camp doctor Aribert Heim died in 1992 in Cairo, where he lived under an assumed name.

You can read the full article, here.

Last August I wrote a post about the fact that Ruediger Heim, son of Aribert Heim, wanted his father declared legally dead.
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In other news, my friend Susan of Jewish Rantings has two copies of People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks to give away. Find out more here.
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Rachel S. Harris, has written a review for The Jewish Daily Forward, on the book Poets on the Edge: An Anthology of Contemporary Hebrew Poetry.
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Jay Michaelson has written an interesting article for The Jewish Daily Forward on the environment and Jews. It’s quite interesting, and you can read it here.
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National Yiddish Book Center has an upcoming event on February 8th: “If the Walls Could Speak (Les Voix de la Muette). You can read about it, and other February events, here.
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I saw this tiny spark of bright red while looking out of my dining room window. The male cardinal was resting on one of my trees, so of course I had to take his photograph. The tree is about 35 feet from the window, so I used a 200mm zoom lens, and cropped the photo.

Individual reflection is an important aspect of Shabbat. Achad Ha’am’s thought-provoking quotation is one to ponder: “It is not so much that Jews have kept Shabbat as that Shabbat has kept the Jews.”

Why not visit Sky Watch Friday to see some beautiful photographs.
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Thursday January 29, 2009 – 5th of Sh’vat, 5769

I woke up this morning to discover that my JewWishes blog is a finalist in the 2008 weblog awards. It is in the category of “Best Religious Blog”.

Voting should begin on January 5, 2009. It appears that JewWishes is the only Jewish blog in the “Best Religious Blog” category. That makes the selection more meaningful for me.

There were almost 5,000 blogs entered, and approximately 500 chosen, by committee, in the varied categories. Seeing my blog as a finalist was quite a pleasant surprise, and was a nice beginning to my day. I feel honored. I’m not trying to promote myself (seriously), but if you read and enjoy my blog, I would be extremely grateful and appreciative if you did vote for me.

Here are all of the finalists in the “Best Religious Blog” category.

Happy Catholic
Conversion Diary
Tariq Nelson
Dervish
What Does the Prayer Really Say?
Christian Blog
Standing On My Head
One Cosmos
Jew Wishes
the evangelical outpost

There are many excellent blogs included as finalists in the various categories of the 2008 weblog awards, and you might want to check out the finalist listing. Congratulations to all the chosen finalists!

The river of life is a continual flow, with wonderful illuminations.

Sorry for the update…I inserted the wrong image into my post.

Update: Voting will continue through Tuesday January 13, 2009, GMT.
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Jew Wishes…Peace to you all.
© Copyright 2007 – All Rights Reserved – No permission is given or allowed to reuse my photography, book reviews, writings, or my poetry in any form/format without my express written consent/permission.

The Jewish Community Federation of Richmond has a beautiful page entitled “Lasting Hanukkah Gifts“. The page begins like this:

“Dear Children,
We have gifts for you as usual, for each night of Hanukkah. We¹ve planned these presents carefully and we hope that you like them.
THE FIRST NIGHT: For the first night of Hanukkah, your gift is LOVE. This is the first thing. We love you. This is unconditional and not negotiable. We will love you always and forever, no matter what.
THE SECOND NIGHT: For the second night of Hanukkah, we give you JUDAISM. This gift gives you strength in your heritage, a strong moral code, and an incredible gift for survival. Judaism gives you inspiration, scholarship, compassion, a way to live, and a people to belong to, wherever life takes you.
THE THIRD NIGHT: For the third night we give you FAMILY. This is the other part of your roots, the groundedness that you get when you know who you are, and whose example you can follow. This is your grandparents and other family members that we talk about. This is growing up in a setting where we try hard to show you how people treat each other. “

The third night of Hanukkah begins tonight at sundown. Place your Menorah where all who pass by can see it. Recite the Blessing. Get your Shamash, “Helper Candle” out and light it, and then light three candles, from the left to the right, beginning on the far right side of your Menorah, as you face it. Recite the blessings. Celebrate with tradition, joy and Lasting Hanukkah Gifts.

Read the rest of the beautiful and meaningful Lasting Hanukkah Gifts.
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Jew Wishes…Peace to you all.
© Copyright 2007 – All Rights Reserved – No permission is given or allowed to reuse my photography, book reviews, writings, or my poetry in any form/format without my express written consent/permission.