Happy Honkah!

Today is the first day of Hannukah and we lit the first candle last night. Being of strong Google-Fu, I knew that Hannukah started today, but hadn't realized at first that days are not counted midnight to midnight for Jewish celebrations, but rather sundown the evening before to sundown. After getting off the phone with my parents, something had been niggling around in the back of my brain, so I dug around a bit online and found out this little tidbit. As a result, we lit our candles somewhat after sundown, but at least it was before bedtime! We read an English translation of the traditional blessing, lit the candles, and then read a couple of library books about Hanukkah, including a counting book in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish!

Another Hanukkah discovery that just delights the dickens out of me is this album. When we were on our way to our friends' annual Caroling party, they were discussing this album on Fresh Air. For example, I am not sure which tickles me more: that the first song on the album is reggae/klezmer with Yiddish rap or that I know what that means.