I finally got a menorah. Hannukah just isn’t the same if you’re not lighting the candles. I have great memories of being a youngin on the first night of Channukah.

Me: “Presents!!! Give me presents!” Parents: “Take a chill pill, first we light the candles and say the prayers.” Me: ” Awwgghhhh. Then presents?” Parents: “Yes” Together: “Barukh atah Adonai, Elohaynu, melekh ha-olam asher keed’shanu b’meetzvotav v’tzeevanu l’had’lik neir shel Chanukkah. Amein.” (two more follow) Me: “Presents? Parents: “Yes, presents.”

For a long time my sister and I would get a present every night and then get the big gift on the 8th night. It was always torture trying to wait, especially when I was young and didn’t just tell people what I wanted. As the years went on we would get all our presents on one night, which was nice. It also put more focus on lighting the candles every night since it wasn’t followed by presents. Normally I would zip through the prayers so that I could get Tecmo Bowl 20 seconds faster, but the quick deployment of presents meant we spent more time saying prayers and playing with fire.

The one really odd thing about Chanukkah was when we used to have a Hannukkah Bush, which was just a renamed Christmas Tree. In the end it didn’t matter because it was just fun to have something to decorate in the corner of the room. Unfortunately, we just used very generic decorations since the market for Channukkah ornamets is awfully small.

In conclusion, this holiday is great and enjoy the 5th night of Hanukah.