11 December 2009 What kind of candles do you all want?

The temperature bottomed out at 15°F at 0740 this morning. At 1415 it reached a high of 30.9°F and then started back down toward an expected 18°F low for tonight. It won’t surprise me if we record a lower temperature than that. The sky has been clear much of the day so once the sun dropped below the western valley wall it was like pulling a plug and watching the heat vanish.

This is the ice over water I wanted to see yesterday. Certainly here today.

What kind of candles do we want?

Hanukah begins at sundown tonight. So does Shabbat. The custom is to light the Hanukiot before lighting the Shabbat candles. By doing this we avoid working on Shabbat. Yes, lighting a candle is work according to rabbinic law. Also considered work, flipping a light switch off or on, turning a cook stove or furnace off or on, starting the motor of a car, using a flash light, turning a computer, a radio, a television, an elevator, an alarm system, or any other device powered in any manner by the flow of electrons. Although science tells us that electrical discharge and fire are two different things, two different physical processes, and the appearance of a spark that might occur at the point when an electrical circuit is completed or broken is sufficiently flame like for Rabbinic law to consider the creation of a spark identical to lighting a fire. The spark of a flint and steel is in no way equal in nature to the visible flow of electrons across a gap. But when science and religion view the same problem, science, all too often, looses as there is far less understanding of basic science than there should be.

We’ll light one candle (actually two) tonight, two tomorrow, three the next, and so on. A box of Hanukah candles contains 44 candles of various colors and a base circumference about twice that of birthday candles. In most places I’ve lived, finding the candles has been easy. Generally, chain grocery stores will set up a Hanukah display and market seasonal items, candies, and foods. The only major chain grocery in our region is Kroger. In the three Hanukah seasons we have lived here, never has Kroger had such a display. At least one Kroger store in Johnson City is adjacent to the university. They have a large international food section but the kosher section is nearly non-existent. The first year we lived here we asked for Hanukah items and were handed an item request to fill out. Gloria stood there at the desk and filled it out, listing several items including candles. That took place in November. When we called in December to check on our order, we learned it had not been submitted to the regional distribution center. Since then, we have put in requests for Passover foods; again, we got no response from Kroger. The other grocery chains, smaller and local in nature, don’t even make a pretense of having kosher food sections. We’ve actually complained to the regional Kroger office but that drew no response either.

So our Passover foods, Hanukah candles, and even greeting cards, have to be purchased on trips to major metro areas or ordered from kosher supply houses. In some ways, it is still all too similar to conditions described in “The Jew Store.” There aren’t many Jews in the state and the few there are tend to cluster in the large cities.

This year we ordered our Hanukah candles from Israel. Shipping cost far more than the candles are worth. On the other hand, “tradition!” can be impossible to value.

We’ve grown tired of explaining that Hanukah is not “Jewish Christmas.” If you’re reading this, you already know that. So here’s an interesting article that I happened upon today that I find to be a great interpretation of the Hanukah legend and much closer to reality than most tales I’ve heard before.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/opinion/11brooks.html?ref=opinion

Chag Sameach!

Shabbat Shalom!

Finished at 1632. Sunset is at 1716.