Tonight was relatively low key, seeing as I am still getting over a nasty bout of something (food poisoning? stomach virus?) and I'm not quite ready to tolerate latkes yet (that will be tomorrow night when all the kids come in).
Tonight is the first of two (this year) "Sunday Nights" of Chanukah, which for some reason are marked by a bit of a pilgrimage for a sizable contingent of non-locals to my shul. Granted, our shul is large, with a very large menorah requiring 3 steps to climb up to it (in a previous chazzon's case, 4 steps....) and in the days of Chazzan Frankel z"l, it was quite an experience. It has become such an event that Joey has always said he wanted to sell T-shirts outside of shul. "I attended Chanukah '08 at _____ shul". This year was a bit calmer, due in part, in my opinion, to the weather, coupled with the fact that there's always next Sunday (more candles, more show). I think we need to post an additional sign in our shul's lobby that reads "Welcome to our shul. No flash photography please". Don't these people realize that the constant flashing during the lighting is very disturbing and on top ot that, in a sanctuary the size of ours, IT DOESN'T EVEN WORK??
Oh, and following the tradition that Chanukah is a festival of both lights and miracles, we had a bit of a Chanukah miracle right in our own shul. Half the 18 burned out (for over a year!) light bulbs were replaced this morning (there go my posts discussing "How many Shul House Committee members does it take to change a light bulb?" and our upcoming "if any more bulbs blow - candlelight maariv service"). Let's hope these lightbulbs last MORE than eight days.....
1 comment:
It has become a pilgrimage for some, so you just have to live with the flashing cameras. ;-)
And I just found my old copy of Mishpacha Magazine with Chazzon Frankel OB'M on the cover, lighting the Menora.
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