Universal Music

Couldn’t you dance a Texas two step to this? Or an Irish jig? This is another little video of the Chanukah celebration in our township. When I was young, there was always someone who could play the fiddle or the accordion and a singer who could carry a tune (or not depending on the alcohol intake…). Holiday get togethers in Scotland usually incorporated a wee sing-song. Younger generations learned the old songs and you weren’t allowed to be shy!

Dance like no one is watching…

I went dancing recently with a girlfriend. It was a local bar with a Motown night – just our era. They were a really good band and most of the ladies got up to dance. The gentlemen, however, all just stood around hugging the wall/bar – it felt like being back at a Catholic school dance! Lots of leering but no action… Eventually one guy asked me if could swing. I am 99% certain he was talking about dancing but I said I was better at Salsa. He said he would ask me up for a slow dance after the group had their break. It was 10 pm, though, and time for Kerry’s bedtime, so we went home. If he had look like Brad Pitt, my bedtime could have waited!

Faith and dancing – nothing beats it!

Lighting the Menorah in Texas

This is the first year that I have attended our township’s lighting of the Menorah to celebrate Chanukah. My heart was touched by the humanity of the celebration. Every ethnicity was represented, Jewish and not. We have a large population of Latin Americans so many of the Jewish people were from that continent. The Rabbi spoke beautifully with warmth and enthusiasm. As he started to light the Menorah, he asked us to think of someone close to us who needed healing. So many of us do this year. Below, the Rabbi is singing the blessings between lighting each candle, culminating in the 8th one to represent the 8 days of Chanukah.

As you can hear, it was a vibrant crowd with children running around with dreidels and shields. Some attendees were Orthodox Jews but others were Reform. There was even a lapsed Catholic with tears in her eyes remembering the community feel of her old church. The band was Hasidic and amazingly good. I will post videos in future posts but in this last video below they are singing about Chanukah.

HAPPY CHANUKAH!!