This Chanukah has been the first where I haven’t been home, but my roommate and I have found unique ways to celebrate. Her parents had sent her a balsa wood menorah set, and on the third night of Chanukah, we sat on our floor and painstakingly popped out each of the pieces and assembled this menorah.
Afterwards, my fingers were red, sore, and looked as if I had been playing a steel-stringed guitar without any calluses, but it was totally worth it. It now sits on our windowsill (thanks to some balancing magic on my roommate’s part) and each night, we say the prayers and add another wooden flame to the piece.
As we assembled this surprisingly complicated project, we listened to this crazy song, “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” on loop. It turns out most of our friends had already heard it and known it existed, but it was a strange and oddly charming surprise to us. We listened to it about 10 times total with 2 breaks of Frank Sinatra’s version of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”
You can listen to it below here.
How are you celebrating Chanukah? If you’re not celebrating Chanukah, what are you doing/going to do to celebrate your winter holiday?