Last year, there was a sweet (but cringe-worthy) Hanukkah video that circulated around this time of year, showing a panoply of different people telling the story of the Maccabee victory with an unlikely chorus of “Yes We Can.”
Today I got an email from my favorite Chabad rabbi in the world — if you want to know why, read my memoir (great Hanukkah present!), or just ask my mother-in-law about the man who reassured them that I might live in San Francisco and do performance art, but I was actually a nice person. So he gets some leeway.
Although I have to admit, I was a little wary when the subject line was, “Chanukah: Yes, We Can.”
It turns out, my faith in Rabbi Gedalia should never waver. You see, each year he holds a public menorah lighting with a different gimmick. One year, the giant menorah was made out of ice. Another year, it was made of chocolate (he has six kids, all of whom probably had stomachaches in the morning).
This year, it’s made of cans.
And it’s not just a gimmick. Before and after the menorah lighting, they’re holding a canned food drive. If you’re in San Francisco, swing by Just for Fun and drop off some food, or visit Gedalia’s site…and, while you’re at it, ask him if he knows any single Australian chefs.
Hanukkah
Pronounced: KHAH-nuh-kah, also ha-new-KAH, an eight-day festival commemorating the Maccabees’ victory over the Greeks and subsequent rededication of the temple. Falls in the Hebrew month of Kislev, which usually corresponds with December.
menorah
Pronounced: muh-NOHR-uh, Origin: Hebrew, a lamp or candelabra, often used to refer to the Hanukkah menorah, or Hanukkiah.
