"Insignificant" is not a word I would apply to Hannukah.  Especially with its historic significance.  I was just taught that it wasn't a "holiday" but a "festival"  sort of putting it one rung down.  Of course we can go round and round on this.  

There is a saying, "Put two Jews in a room and get three opinions."  It can be used offensively, but it is also a tribute to the nature of our analytical Talmudic heritage.  Also it's the nature of Judaism and the many different ways it is practiced. (Reformed, Conservative, Reconstructionist, etc.)   I'm just grateful to be take part in public discussions with such erudite contributors, Jews and Christians. Happy Hannukah!

Also, no, there is no rule other than kosher ones, which is not your issue. In fact during seder we dip matzoh into a combination of apples, nuts and sweet wine, among other variations.  Cream cheese is good.  Butter and salt is still the best...but I love spreading avocados on them. 

Okay, it's official, I've now written more on this site about food than politics.  I guess you see where my true passion lies. 

Okay, now I know you're not Jewish.  We LOVE matzoh.  Especially slathered in butter and salt. (Of course you can't do that if you are kosher and have meat in the meal.)  Matzoh brei is amazing.  Soak broken up matzoh in water for a few minutes and then drain well.  Add to beaten eggs and fry up with lots of butter and salt.  Traditionally you can throw in lox.  My mom used to fry onions really crisp and toss those in.  

Here's the recipe my brother made up when he was a teen:  Put two boards of matzoh on a buttered cookie sheet.  Soak with water until soggy, but not falling apart.  Drain well.  put chunks of butter all over the matzoh and put under the broiler. Watch closely. When edges are hard and crispy the middle will be gooey and stretchy and yummy.  Fantastic.  

Also...may I note that the other brilliant Hannukah food is donuts.  Preferably jelly. Oil. You get the point.

I have to admit I enjoyed this, though cheesy.  But I stand by Adam Sandler's Chanukah song for it's irreverence and contemporary stand to be proud to be Jewish.  He is a very active member of my synagog. Not dropping names.  Just saying he walks the walk and has a rep as a very nice guy. 

I have a huge confession to make, Peter.  I have made latkes from scratch a dozen times. Hours of grating potatoes. Dozens of rolls of paper towels to press the water out of them.  And I have never found ones that are as savory, nor that hold their crisp as well as the frozen one from Trader Joes.  Friday I fried up 10 boxes for an early Hannuukah celebration and they disappeared.

Just put them in 3-4 inches of hot canola oil still frozen, turn and pull the little suckers out when the edges are really crisp. Get yourself one of those fry screens for the pan. They spit.  Let them rest on paper towels and pat.  Lotsa sour cream and apple sauce and it's heaven.  Great along side a meal of roasted chicken or lamb chops.  You can't go wrong!

Too bad you don't live in my neighborhood.  Most years I deliver plates of them to friends on my block.  (They need to be hot.)  Boy do I get Christmas cookies in return!

P.S. Aaron Miller is a very North American Jewish sounding name. Hmmmm... 

That's sweet.  My step-mother's Catholic church in New Orleans as mezzuzahs on all its doors and has a Passover seder.  Not an uncommon practice in certain Christian communities, I understand.  If we can get past ancient persecutions, we find more joy in commonality than in difference. 

Claire, the "obvious" is what the MSM doesn't report.  The obvious threat of Jihadism, the obvious threat of Iran, the obvious failure of the wrong-headed Obama Administration. And yet the Los Angeles Times used so much pulp covering the OWS movement here you could wrap fish from now to doomsday.  

This is much more frightening that the CMC.  The weapons are stronger and stealthier and the enemy more horrifyingly devout.  The USSR never had the perverse moxie to slaughter 3,000 people on our own soil.  

Dear Dave,

My heart goes out to you, and all those who care for your father.  It IS harder on the caregivers.  I watched my father slide into Alzheimers, until Hurricane Katrina made he and his wife flee to Atlanta.  He ended up in a care facility for four days when he broke his hip. There there was no recovery after that. 

Now I am going through it with my husband's mother.

My advice: Try not to lose your good humor.  One Thanksgiving when my father was deeply effected by the disease and knew he could no longer remember names, he looked around the table at the ten of us and made a thoughtful decision. Pointing to each of us, he said with a twinkle in his eye:  "You're Emily.  You're Emily.  You're Emily.  And You're Emily."  

Nor lose your sense of wonder.  When my South African father was in hospice in rural Georgia, we found a Christian missionary who spoke Afrikaans. My father could no longer converse in English, and yet he could in his first language.  The Missionary made several visits to talk with my father. It was a great comfort.

He could write for them, but the current front runners would still sound hollow and mealy mouthed because Christie BELIEVES in what he's saying.  It's coming from a moral center others lack. 

And may I say, I am worried about the man's weight.  He is too good a guy to lose and he is growing dangerously obese.

Judith, the simplest book I've found and used is "The Relaxation Response" by Dr. Herbert Benson.  It's the classic go-to book.  I urge you to get it.

And thanks, Rob, for reminding me to go back to meditating.  I recently sang in a multi-faith choir on Thanksgiving that was hosted by a Hindu-based temple and we practiced guided meditation for a few minutes.  So relaxing.

True. And don't think I don't pay gratitude for it every day.

Congrats to your daughter!  Mine is a competitive skater, too, and it took her a year plus to land her axel consistently. It is definitely a huge accomplishment.  

I'm glad you appreciate the OWS movement's concern for the poor, because if your daughter keeps going in this expensive sport, as mine did, we both well be there.

That's a shame.  He's a tremendous conduit to young people we don't normally get to reach with this kind of message.  While I'm always cynical about celebrities...we never see their true colors...I think this was a wonderful thing to do.  And a wonderful letter to put out to his millions of fans.