Healthcanc

Did I spell it right? Should it be Hanukah? Or Chanucha? Hannukkah? You can't win when you transliterate.  Western Wall Chanukiah (menorah) Tonight is the first night of Chanukah, an 8-day Jewish holiday that celebrates a miracle. Oh! It's Xmas Eve, too. But you know that story, and honestly, I don't, so let's stick with our strong suits and talk a bit about Chanukah, because it is an underdog beats tyrant-who-isn't-religiously-tolerant  victory story, and nothing makes us feel better than an underdog walking off with the trophy. In a nutshell (we've been cracking them all day long): The Greeks ransacked The Temple  in Jerusalem and did not allow the Jews to practice their religion anymore. (No Sabbath, no Torah, no tradition). We got the Temple back, big fight, and wanted to re-light the  menorah , the  n er tamid ,  a lamp that is never supposed to go out, never did when the Jews were in charge. But they were booted for awhile, and it did go out. But after the

A good friend of mine is leaving the country, going home, and she might never come back. She isn't leaving because she fears deportation, rather, she hasn't seen her mother in many years. The older woman is getting on, is in her nineties.  The younger begs her friends to understand: "I have to see my Mommy. If not now, when?"  We know what she means. The littlest things can make you think about parents when they're no longer with you, when you can't just call or visit anymore. FD and I used to have a tradition, inspired in part by my mother. In December she would give me money in a birthday card (out of her social security), and I was to take FD to the opera. Mom, a  Dancing With the Stars person, knew we loved the Lyric, but in those days it was cost-prohibitive; we didn't go very often. The idea, to get us out of our  work-til-you-drop rut, was a good one. The subtext, maybe, think of your mother while you marvel at the theater, the people, the product