On the 1st night of Hanukkah

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My true love gave to me…. oh, wait, no. That’s Christmas. I’m so confused! A menorah on my Thanksgiving table! Ma zeh? Which is Hebrew for c’est quoi, ça? Which is Mr French’s way of saying, “What the hell is going on?” All this bi-culturalism can make life confusing at times! Tonight well be having guests who grew up in Columbia, Haiti, the US and France. Some of them in several of those places !!! Some  have a hard time with English while others know French.

And now there is the great latka debate. Em would not hear of it. She waits all year for Mom’s Thanksgiving mashed potatoes with a pound of butter and gallon of crème fraîche. Truth be told, I didn’t fight her on it. I love the potato galettes I can get pre-made at the Sunday market on boul Raspail. They’re delicious, even better as I savor all the greasy kitchen duty I’m dodging. So just a menorah in our home tonight, folks.

Last year I launched an Advent calendar with 25 holiday gift ideas. 25 is a lot of presents, especially when you’re also running around town buying Hanukkah AND Christmas gifts for everyone in your life. So this year, I’m going back to my roots and giving Perfectly Parisian Present ideas for the holidays.

Starting, of course, with my personal favorite a donation in honor of someone to, Medecins sans frontières Did you know they were founded in Paris? With such a supportive social welfare system, the French do not have a lot of charitable organizations, but local doctors started MSF during the Biafra crisis and they have become national heros, as well Nobel Prize winners for putting their lives in danger as they fly across disaster areas and war zones to help others, regardless of their religion, politics or history. People saving people. Who knows? It may be the first step towards world peace!

Happy Thanksgiving every one! Gobble, gobble.

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7 thoughts on “On the 1st night of Hanukkah

  1. Well done on your efforts for world peace. I can’t help but think that the world would be a more tolerant place if people invited friends of other cultures to celebrate with them.

    Of course we don’t have Thanksgiving in England, but I decided to have a Thanksgiving day and nice meal in honour of my American friends because I think it is such a good idea. Unfortunately I got the wrong day and had our gratitude day yesterday! duh! no problem we can repeat it all today…… so twice as thankful!

    As for Chanukah or Hanukkah, not sure what the difference is but I’m learning. thanks to google.

    Love Denise

    • Interesting question! In the US they don’t have a National Curriculum, so each school decides. Where I grew up, we did. In France, they avoid discussing religion in school until the kids are in middle school, then the learn about the three monotheistic faiths!

    • If he’s interested, we celebrated Hanukkah to remember when the Romans sacked Jerusalem. If he’s ever seen Raider’s of the Lost Ark, that ark as in the Temple in Jerusalem when the Romans arrived. There was always a light burning above it. Well, the Romans made such a mess there wasn’t any more oil to keep that light burning, so they had to get some more oil. Only the Oil was pretty far away, but by some miracle there had been exactly enough oil in the lamp to last the 8 days it took to get more. So we celebrate the 8 days of that miracle.

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