This Year’s Chanukah Miracle

Our new Chanukah Lamp!

Chanukah is a holiday about miracles.  No, not the familiar “miracle” of the cute story of a little cruse of oil that burned for eight days. Rather it is the miracle of how a small group of Jews somehow resisted the strong forces of assimilation and kept our Jewish faith alive.

This year our family experienced a new miracle.

In the hurry to evacuate our Sanibel home before Hurricane Ian all but demolished it, and in our sure belief that after a couple of days we would return to our undamaged home, we did not rescue the eight or so different Chanukiot (Chanukah lamps) that we have acquired over the years from all over the world.  Not only did we not rescue them; we did not even think about them…until yesterday.  It was then that we realized that the festival will begin the next evening, and we had no candles and no Chanukiah in which to light them.

I scoured neighborhood stores in the non-Jewish area where our temporary home is and finally found a box of Chanukah candles. But there was no Chanukiah in any of the places I looked.

Sarah to the rescue!

When Vickie told our daughter Sarah of our plight she responded simply, “I just ordered one for you.”

“That’s so nice,” I thought, “but it will probably get here about the time the eight-day festival ends.”

A knock on the door, and a delivery from Bed Bath and Beyond (of all places) this afternoon brought a lovely new Chanukiah into our home. We lament the precious and emotionally priceless Chanukiot the storm swept away, but tonight when the festival arrives, a new family tradition with a new Chanukiah will begin.

Wishing all of you a joyful holiday season!