Nothing Says Happy Chanukah…
Like a carbon monoxide detector.
So last night, I was listening to Neal Conan interview Amy Dickinson, of “Ask Amy” fame, about the worst gifts people have ever received for Christmas. Some of the gifts were shocking. Sometimes funny-shocking. And sometimes sad-shocking.
What would “Ask Amy” say about a carbon monoxide detector? Would her reaction be the same as it was to the guy who wrote in about his father who once gave his mother snow-chains for her car?
CONAN: Here’s an email from Steve(ph) in Beaver Dam, Arizona. In the early 1960s, my father put a set of tire chains for the family car under the Christmas tree as a gift for my mother. It was not well-received.
Ms. DICKINSON: Oh, boy.
CONAN: Yeah.
Ms. DICKINSON: I tell you, that is one Christmas morning – I can still – I can feel it. I feel for that whole family. And look, he was just…
CONAN: You have to wonder who was wearing the chains at the end of the day.
Maybe it’s better to ask a rabbi rather than an advice columnist. Because those very same chains were given by a man whose motivation might have been the desire to keep his family safe on icy roads. A gesture to be appreciated as a sign of caring rather than a sign of disdain or a lack of imagination.
Back to a carbon monoxide detector. Carbon monoxide kills. It IS a silent killer. And it is preventable.
SO PC’s gift to our family for this final night of Chanukah is not exciting. But it is one of the truest expressions of love.
Thanks PC. We love it. And we love you.
Frume Sarah is Shabbos-observant -- in a Reform way, that is. Please note that from Friday afternoons until one hour after sundown on Saturday evenings, Frume Sarah will be unavailable, in observance of the Jewish Sabbath.
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Thank you for your understanding...and gut Shabbos!!! 
aw….that’s so sweet.
my mom used to give me long underwear for chanukah every year. and i appreciated it all winter long!!!
We would get something like socks or cute slippers or cozy jammies. LOVED gifts like that.
Still do…
This and Havel Havelim wow! I clicked to see if it was posted and I see that you’re a very busy lady!!
The trick to HH is to set aside time each day. Then come Motzei Shabbat, most of the work is already done!
i somehow got to your blog while trying to find the hazon food conf. packing list…i am a soon-to-be rabbi and this will also be my first food conf. you’ll be in good company!
karen
Oh good!! Another newbie 🙂 We should meet-up 🙂
When I was a kid (probably 12 or 13), my dad got me a wrench for Chanukah. He knew I was interested in tools, but did not listen to my mom when she said that it is not a good Chanukah gift.
He was surprised by my reaction to to the gift — I tried, rather unsuccessfully, to hold my tears of disappointment, so that I would not hurt his feelings.
The experience became somewhat of a family joke.
I still have the wrench, and use it to this day.