Happy Hanukkah

Socially speaking, Hanukkah in Israel is a little different than Hanukkah in the States. Here, Hanukkah is a kind of nationalistic holiday symbolizing Jewish independence in the land of Israel. Plus everyone eats sufganiot (really good jelly donuts) and kids are on vacation. The highlight of my Hanukkah celebration this year was a Kibbutz tradition where children from the Kibbutz run, while carrying a torch, from Jordan (yes, the country Jordan) to the Kibbutz. This year the run was about 5-6 miles, broken into segments of about a mile. In between the segments kids had the option of riding the bus to the next segment or conversely getting off of the bus to run. We "older" kids also ran both for the fun of it and to assure the safety of the kids. I am proud to report that I ran the entire race, although it was slightly demoralizing when little kids literally half of my height were running along side me. There was no way I was letting myself ride the bus when some 12 year old was still going strong. The race ended as the torch was carried into the Kibbutz and used to light the Hanukkiah. All in all the race was lots of fun and I can't believe how many of the kids ran the entire way. They build these Kibbutz kids strong. Go team Jew!