Rewriting History

I don’t know about other homes, but this time of year seems to inspire a lot of religiously-oriented conversations.

In a chaotic and confusing world, we make impose our own sense of order by naming things. By attempting to define them. To put them, things and people, into compartments as a way of making sense of that which often confuses us.

And, it seems, we attempt to understand our story in new and…ahem…interesting ways.

Which is how Batman ended up in the Chanukah story.

There has been much discussion, at least among my colleagues, whether to diminish, if not dismiss entirely, the oil miracle in lieu of the military victory miracle. I, for one, maintain that they can, and should, coexist. Side-by-side. Enhancing, rather than detracting from, the whole point of this commemoration. Just as I am sharing the mysterious, and rather awesome, account of a tiny jar of oil that managed to keep the lights on in the House, so too am I describing the fight for religious assertion and victory that could not have been ours without help from Above.

Peach, just four years old, loves this story. Both aspects. And, like many kids his age, understands the notion of good guys versus bad guys. He talks about “the mean Greeks who wouldn’t let us be Jewish” (yes, I know they were Syrian-Greeks, but he’s only four) and the brave Maccabees who made them go away. The story has captivated him and provided a new backdrop for his creative play.

And, after much thought, he has wisely determined that the Maccabees would have won a whole lot faster if Batman had been there.

He’s probably right.

********************************

#HanukkahHoopla continues!!!

Candle 3:

The Monster in Your Closet

Kvetchmom

and, because I didn’t get my act together yesterday,

Candle 2:

Nina Badzin’s Blog

Diary of a Paper Princess

Head on over and leave comments for a chance to win an exclusive #HanukkahHoopla gift package, courtesy of Streit’s and Mama Doni, the lead singer/songwriter of The Mama Doni Band:

• Mama Doni’s 2011 Parents’ Choice Award-winning CD, Shabbat Shaboom
• a Mama Doni poster
• a Download card for free Mama Doni songs (1 Chanukah song and 1 Passover song)
• a Bag of Streit’s chocolate Hanukkah gelt.