Happy Hanukkah!
To commemorate the last day of this special holiday, I found a charming children’s picture book by Malka Drucker called “Grandma’s Latkes.”
Molly is finally old enough to help Grandma make latkes, but she can’t grate potatoes as fast as her grandmother can. Seeking a break for her tired arms, she asks, “How did you learn to make latkes?”
Grandma explains that this recipe was handed down from her own grandmother, who would save her pennies for oil, potatoes, eggs and onions, and before Hanukkah every year, she would buy what she needed to prepare for the feast. Then she tells Molly the story of Hanukkah.
Many years ago, Antiochus, the Syrian king, became the ruler of Israel and made a law that everyone must pray to the gods of the Greeks. This caused much grief to the people of Israel, who had their own religious traditions.
One day, Antiochus tried to tamper with the Jewish custom of kosher by bribing Mattathias, a wise old man, to eat a piece of pork. Mattathias refused, saying that he had the right to choose for himself what customs he would follow. Another man stepped forward to accept the bribe, which made Mattathias angry. How could this man take his religion so lightly? He killed the man and the soldier, then said, “All who believe in God, follow me.”
Grandma shows Molly how to put the latkes into the oil, then she continues with the story. One of Mattathias’s sons, named Judah Maccabee, led an army against Antiochus and his men, and even though the Maccabee army was much smaller, they won. When they returned to Jerusalem to celebrate, they found that the temple had been desecrated and all the precious things had been stolen. Judah wanted to light the menorah inside the temple, but there was only enough oil for it to burn for one day, but then a miracle occurred – the menorah stayed lit for eight entire days. In memory of that oil, latkes are served during Hanukkah, fried in oil.
Molly learned a lot from her grandmother; how to grate potatoes, how to fish egg shells out of the bowl, and how to stir the mixture together. But more importantly, she learned the history behind one of her family’s most precious traditions – the celebration of Hanukkah.
A note: While writing this blog I found two variations on the spelling of Hanukkah. I used the spelling as found in the book, and hope that I chose correctly.
(This book was published in 1992 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and was illustrated by Eve Chwast.)
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