Chanukah starts tonight. It’s the Festival of Lights. We celebrate that magical combination of oil and potato: the latke. In truth, we are celebrating a small army’s successful rebellion and the oil lamp in the temple that should have lasted for one day but instead, lasted for eight days. So we celebrate by eating fried foods.
In the Jewish calendar, it is not really that big a deal compared to other holidays but this year, I am getting out all the holiday stuff we have gathered over the years, especially the menorahs and we are going to light every single one of them.
I figure we need all the light we can get. It’s been a tough year for everyone. Even people who put on brave faces and always seem to find the bright side, are tired and longing for the thing, person or activity that is missing this year.
My personal mission over this next eight days is to call someone each day who is not one of my regular connections. It’s not that I am any particular flash of sunshine but I know, from experience, how nice it is when someone reaches out to me.
Here is my call list:
- Someone who is looking for work
- Relative I only see once a year and won’t see at all this year
- Friend from high school
- Former colleague
- Student
- Colleague that I have not seen since March
- The president of my company
- That friend who used to go to yoga with me
I am excited about this. It feels like something real that I can do in the face of all the rest of the crap which is totally out of my control.
Zoom calls and latkes with sour cream and applesauce – it’s going to be a good week.
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