Why yes, the eighth night of Chanukah did fill the spiritual void I was experiencing this past Festival of Lights: One of our favorite Jewish families, the Cohens of Groveland Circle, had us over for menorah-lighting, tilapia and from-scratch latkes. I am ashamed to admit I haven’t grated a potato since I discovered frozen hash browns; this year I even resorted to Streit’s mix on one chaotic night. Guess what? They tasted awesome – they were fried, for heaven’s sake. But Wendy and Jon’s were truly special, mixed with carrots and zucchini.
After I tried to open up a second bottle of Kedem white wine (tasty with fish!) with a corkscrew and it wasn’t until every person in the room tried to pull the cork that we noticed I’d punctured a hole in the screw-off cap, we whiled away the evening watching the candles burn down and cracking up over Wendy’s starring role in the Savannah Morning News’ Chanukah feature, which focused on her conversion to Judaism. Check this melodramatic opening paragraph:
Wendy Cohen has no childhood memories of Hanukkah to pass on to her three children.
No heirloom menorah to light together.
No family latke recipes to share.
However, she has plenty of memories of celebrating Christmas.
I guess the reason it’s so funny is that Wendy is one of the most authentic Jewish mothers I know (see latkes) and the Cohen home pulses with such warmth. They keep kosher and walk to the Conservative shul most Saturdays with their three (unbelievably well-behaved) children without making it seem difficult; their observance is joyful and inspiring rather than judgmental and limiting. Plus, Wendy isn’t shy about throwing around the f-word when the appropriate occasion arises (oil spattering on exposed flesh, the curtains next to the menorah table coming dangerously close to incineration) which makes her f’kn cool in my book.
Like good Jewish mothers, we shared menorah cleaning tips: I’ve always frozen them and chipped the wax off, the Cohens like to boil off the extra goo. So this year I’m trying both to get that brand-new shine back to our five chanukiahs – it’s working so fabulously so far, but I’ve only cleaned two. What’s the rush, nu?
As for today’s image, there’s nothin’ like a menorah-mimicking Mandelbrot set fractal (invented by a Jewish mathematician, of course) to get me in the mood for spiritual navelgazing (hey, am I the only one who thinks bellybuttons resemble a Fibonacci spiral?) Larger version here.
Awesome post Yenta — thanks for putting up the link about the Cohens, they’re the best!
The Skidmore-Hess Brigade rates right up there in the top four or five, too!
They sound like an incredible family!
I am a “freeze the menorah and chip away” type of gal too, but this year I tried my friend’s yearly “spray it with Pam before lighting and nothing sticks”. It worked great and I just washed off the grease and put it away.
I helped my friend with her Hannukah party as I do every year- we make latkes for 50 from scratch. Maybe we will add some zucchini or sweet potato next year- you have inspired me!
Glad my grandmother didn’t know those wax removal tricks 60 years ago. We are proud of all the years of wax accumulation on our menorah. Solid stainless steel in classic style. Nothing fancy, just like she was. We just annually scrape out the gunk in the candle holes. It has a beauty all it’s own. It’s only material value is to us.
Thanks, Head Yenta, for all the nice things you wrote about Jon and Wendy. I couldn’t agree with you more. However I may be a bit prejudiced…I’m Jon’s mom.
Nice read. Thanks for this post. I have tried lots of different wine openers throughout the years. I have tried all kinds of corkscrews, from original to electric. However the most I enjoyed using Automatic Wine Opener. It’s really easy to operate and does the job perfectly just in few twists. Don’t trust me on this?. You can get it for cheap on Amazon and test it yourself.
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