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Another year of holidays meant another year of decorating. Another year of green, red, silver and golds. As Adrien and Chantal were decorating the large Christmas tree in the foyer, Nathalie walked by them- though the decorations in the box she had were different. Blue, white and silver, mixed in with some Christmas decorations. She set the box down on the floor and began to hang up garland on the bannister. Chantal peeked into the box, and pulled out a menorah. “Mama, what’s this?” She asked.
“It’s a menorah, my dear.” Nathalie replied, as she affixed the end of the garland to the end of the bannister.
“Why do you have that?” Adrien asked, as he hung up his special ornament- a teddy bear. It was right next to a sleeping kitten on a velvet pillow that his sister picked, and Gabriel’s, an angel playing the piano.
“Because I’m Jewish.”
“Really?”
“Well.. half-Jewish. My mother’s parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland. I celebrated Hanukkah and Christmas as a child.”
Chantal held an ornament in her hand. “Mama, what’s Hanukkah?”
Nathalie smiled a little as she sat on the stairs. She invites her daughter and stepson to join her. She felt nostalgic, when her own mother told her the same story. “A long time ago, the town of Jerusalem was controlled by the Greeks. The Greeks outlawed Judaism, however, one group, called the Maccabees, rebelled against this control…”
From his office, Gabriel could hear Nathalie recounting the story. Curious, he stood from his desk, and poked his head out to listen.
She continued, “...The legends say that there was a miracle. When the Maccabees overtook the temple, there was only enough oil for the menorah to last one night. However, it lasted eight. That’s why there’s eight nights of Hanukkah.”
In typical Chantal fashion, she had begun to rifle through the box while Nathalie was telling the story. The little girl pulled out a four-sided top. “What’s this?”
“Oh, that’s a dreidel. It’s a game we would play after. After that, we’d get chocolate coins.”
“Chocolate?!” The young girl asked excitedly. “Mama, can we celebrate Hanukkah? I want chocolate!”
“I don’t know, my dear… Your father is very set in his ways.”
Gabriel suddenly approached from behind. “What do you mean?”
Nathalie was startled at Gabriel’s sudden appearance. Chantal and Adrien looked at their father in excitement. “Father, did you know Nathalie celebrated Hanukkah and is half-Jewish?”
“Admittedly, no… I didn’t.” He turned to Nathalie and sat next to her. “Nathalie… why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Well, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, or that you would care. Plus, I don’t want to force it onto you. I know you were raised in a very Catholic house, and Adrien was raised the same.” Nathalie shrugged. She pulled out a menorah ornament, a special ornament that she had from her own childhood.
Gabriel wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Well, yes, you’re very right… but we’re not that close-minded… we care a lot about you. Would you like us to celebrate Hanukkah too?”
Nathalie thought about it for a second. “Next year, yes. It’s a bit too late this year…”
“Why?”
“It’s already the third night--”
He pulled her close. “Nonsense. It’s not too late. We’ll start tonight, at sundown. That’s how it works, right?”
She nodded. “Correct. But we don’t have the correct candles, and there’s no gelt for the kids…”
“We’ll make it work with what we have. We can use some of the candles we have lying around… and we’ll obtain gelt tomorrow evening.” He reached for the menorah and held it in his hands. Its silver was tarnished, however, nothing that a little polish couldn’t fix. “...How about we polish this?” Nathalie looked at him, and smiled. She kissed his cheek gently.
As they got up to go retrieve the silver polish, Nathalie told the kids that they’d find some Hanukkah ornaments in the box to add to the tree. They nodded, and began to look through the box. While the kids were hanging the ornaments and decorating their tree, Gabriel was helping his wife clean a childhood memory. He was sure to be careful with it, as he rubbed the rag with the polish, the beauty of the menorah’s finish began to shine through. Once fully polished, he showed her. She was satisfied, her heart feeling fuller than ever at this time of year. Her parents would be proud. The two of them walked over to the buffet in the dining room, which was already decorated with garland and white lights. He placed the freshly polished candelabrum right in the center, the finish perfectly reflecting the Christmas lights.
“What do you think?” Gabriel asked.
Nathalie held onto his arm. “It’s perfect. Just like when I was little.” She smiled.
“Good… I think it’s lovely as well. Today starts a new tradition… Our own little version of the festival of lights.”
She agreed. “We got a bit of catching up to do in terms of candle lighting tonight.”
He turned to her. “So, how would you say ‘Happy Hanukkah’ in Hebrew?”
“Ah- that would be, ‘Hanukkah Sameach’.”
“Well, ‘Hanukkah Sameach’, Nathalie.” He leans in to kiss her softly.
“Hanukkah sameach to you too, Gabriel. Christmas Day just so happens to fall on the 7th night. ” She replied.
“How about we have latkes and challah with dinner?”
“Sounds like a plan.” She smiled at him. Adrien and Chantal had finished decorating the tree, and summoned them. Gabriel and Nathalie entered the foyer again, and admired their Christmas tree. It looked a little different than the normal tree and totally didn’t match the aesthetic with its Hanukkah themed and colored ornaments strewn about, but Gabriel wouldn’t want it any other way now. It was a tree decorated with baubles and ornaments that held value to not only him, but to wife and kids as well. The sentiment behind the decorations is what mattered most.