Hanukkah in Israel

Hanukkah in Israel is very special. Everyone seems more happy, maybe its the sufganiyot. Instead of potato pancakes called Latkes which are traditionally associated with Ashkenazi culture, Israelis eat sufganiyot which are donuts traditionally filled with jelly. Anyways, the week before Hanukkah I got to celebrate the holiday at one of my volunteer placements called Lilach which is located in the Hatikva neighborhood of Tel Aviv. We made sivivonim(dreidels), sang Hanukkah songs, ate sufganiyot, and did a group art project. It was very fun.

Throughout the city of Tel Aviv you could see Menorahs on the street and every night it would be lit according to which day of Hanukkah it was. While I was making latkes on the first night I could hear a block party happening down the street. Besides Latkes, my program had two parties one at our apartment and one at BINA, the place where my program is affiliated with. Both parties were great.

There are other things that make Hanukkah here special. Only here you will be in a restaurant late at night and Chabadniks( people from Chabad) ask you if you have lit the candles, and after will sing and dance with you in the middle of the restaurant. By the way, this actually happened to me and it was hilarious. Seeing dreidels with letters that stand for Nes Gadol Haya Po, which means a great miracle happened here.It says this because the Hanukkah story happened in the country. In the Diaspora, it is Nes Gadol Haya Sham, which means a great miracle happened there. There were certain things that I missed such as the smell of a brisket or a kugel in the oven. My mom giving me on gift a night. I made sure to make plenty of latkes both regular and sweet potato which made it seem a little like America, but it was just another way of celebrating the holiday. It was a great eight crazy nights this year. It was soured though by the horrible massacre in Connecticut. Many of the Israelis I talked with said there should be more gun control laws in the United States. This is something that I have been saying for years. I understand it is the Second Amendment, but after how many people have been senselessly killed because of gun violence, there needs to be something done. I don't care what you think, after the senseless violence I have witnessed in my short lifetime there needs to be something done. Too many innocents adults and children have died. Sorry for the ranting, but it had to be said. Nothing more to say but hoping for a great week ahead of me and hope everyone is safe. More from Tel Aviv in the coming days.