Category Archives: Holidays

“O Tannenbaum Gilthoniel”

I re-post this every year in December because it always deserves another look!

Attention all Tolkien language geeks, my friend, Patrick Wynne, sings “A Elbereth Gilthoniel” (by J.R.R.Tolkien) to the tune of “O Tannenbaum.” Brilliant.

(if you have trouble viewing the video, refresh your browser)

Lyrics:
A Elbereth Gilthoniel

A Elbereth Gilthoniel,
O Elbereth Starkindler,
silivren penna míriel
white-glittering, slants down sparkling like jewels,
o menel aglar elenath!
from the firmament the glory of the starry host!
Na-chaered palan-díriel
Having gazed far away
o galadhremmin ennorath,
from the tree-woven lands of Middle-earth,
Fanuilos, le linnathon
to thee, Everwhite, I will sing,
nef aear, sí nef aearon!
on this side of the Sea, here on this side of the Great Ocean!

Special thanks to Pat for letting me post this here!

First Night of Chanukah

We are in the hospital tonight so I will light our menorah “virtually” and re-publish these photos from last year.

The top photo is my menorah, the bottom photo shows Éva after lighting the simple menorah that is enjoying its third generation in our family.

If you are at a loss for words…

here’s a few to try while traveling over the holidays:

An International Christmas Tree

“X”

“XXX”

"XXXXX"

“GOD JUL”

"BUON ANNO"

"FELIZ NATAL”

"JOYEUX NOEL”

"VESELE VANOCE"

"MELE KALIKIMAKA"

"NODLAG SONA DHUIT"

"BLWYDDYN NEWYDD DDA"

"""""""BOAS FESTAS """""""

"FELIZ NAVIDAD"

“MERRY CHRISTMAS”

"KALA CHRISTOUGENA"

"VROLIJK KERSTFEEST"

"FROHLICHE WEIHNACHTEN"

"BUON NATALE-GODT NYTAR"

"HUAN YING SHENG TAN CHIEH"

"WESOLYCH SWIAT-SRETAN BOZIC"

"MOADIM LESIMHA-LINKSMU KALEDU"

"HAUSKAA JOULUA-AID SAID MOUBARK"

"""""""’N PRETTIG KERSTMIS """""""

"ONNZLLISTA UUTTA VUOTTA"

“Z ROZHDESTYOM KHRYSTOVYM"

"NADOLIG LLAWEN-GOTT NYTTSAR"

"FELIC NADAL-GOJAN KRISTNASKON"

“S NOVYM GODOM-FELIZ ANO NUEVO”

"GLEDILEG JOL-NOELINIZ KUTLU OLSUM"

"EEN GELUKKIG NIEUWJAAR-SRETAN BOSIC"

"KRIHSTLINDJA GEZUAR-KALA CHRISTOUGENA"

"SELAMAT HARI NATAL – LAHNINGU NAJU METU"

""""""" SARBATORI FERICITE-BUON ANNO """""""

"ZORIONEKO GABON-HRISTOS SE RODI"

"BOLDOG KARACSONNY-VESELE VIANOCE”

“MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR”

"ROOMSAID JOULU PUHI -KUNG HO SHENG TEN”

"FELICES PASCUAS – EIN GLUCKICHES NEUJAHR"

"PRIECIGUS ZIEMAN SVETKUS SARBATORI VESLLE"

“BONNE ANNEBLWYDDYN NEWYDD DDADRFELIZ NATAL”

“””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””

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Light

A picture is better than a thousand words. ‘Tis true. Look at the light in their eyes!

Ethan & Maggie light their menorah
Photo by John Free (our son-in-law).

As we celebrate Chanukah and anticipate Christmas, I’m also reading and hope to get some reviews up soon. Stay tuned!

Chanukah (Ethan & Maggie light the candles)

Ethan & Maggie light the candles for the second night of Chanukah. Tomorrow they will join a Jewish family from school for a party. What fun that they can participate in the celebration (and even get to practice some of the Hebrew they are learning). One special thing about our candles this year is that we hand-dipped them ourselves! The kids even helped.

Chanukah (Part 3)

One more day until we light the first candle of Chanukah! Hopefully, you have done some of the background reading that I suggested to understand the background for this holiday.

First, just a little explanation of the English spelling of the holiday. You have probably seen both of these spellings: Chanukah and Hanukkah. The reason is due to differing transliterations for the Hebrew letters in the word: Chet-Nun-Waw-Kaf-Hey חנוכה. The Hebrew word means “dedication” or “consecration.”

The holiday commemorates the eight days that the one-day-supply of consecrated oil burned in the Temple until more consecrated oil was available. This miracle of the light is re-enacted by lighting candles each night for the eight days of Chanukah. A special candelabra/menorah which holds 9 candles is used (this is different than the 7-branch menorah). One candle (the Shamash) is used to light the other candles. So, on the first night there are actually two candles burning, on the second night, three candles burn, etc. The candles are lit and allowed to burn until they are completely consumed.

Chanukah Menorah

Rather than give you details of how the holiday is celebrated (which you can easily find with a quick Google search), I want to tell you why we celebrate it as a family. We’re not Jewish. But our Christian heritage is rooted in the Hebrew bible and the journeys told in Scripture. It’s not that we have to celebrate the holiday. Rather, it is an opportunity to choose to celebrate a miracle that demonstrates the power of God and his care for his people. We celebrate other holidays (Independence Day, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving Day… we even join with our neighborhood in celebrating Halloween). Why not also celebrate a holiday that specifically remembers and recounts a part of the history of the people of God? It is a great way to get into the history of Israel.

As we celebrate, I’ll post photos of some of our traditions (and maybe even a few recipes!).