too ts%
Let us Cater or Host your Holiday Party!
Leon's Banquet Room Seats 100 Vizeubso: f
1 0,0
ome CELEBRATE 30 years with Moe!! I
I
"Eight Days a Week" by
the Beatles makes our
Chanukah playlist.
The Beatles, Spice Girls and more
find a place on our Chanukah playlist.
Binyamin Kagedan
JNS.org
F
or your Chanukah party this
year, impress and surprise your
guests with songs that aren't
explicitly about the Festival of Lights
but relate to the holiday in an imagi-
native way. INS. org takes care of your
playlist for the most wonderful time of
the Jewish year.
"Eight Days a Week" (released on the
Beatles' 1964 album Beatles for Sale)
If you've ever wondered why Chanukah
lasts eight days, it's not because the
menorah has eight branches; in fact,
the original menorah had only seven
(the eight-branched version is actually a
chanukiah).
Only two holidays on the Jewish
calendar run for eight days — can you
guess the other one? It's actually Sukkot
(Passover runs seven days except in the
diaspora), and the correspondence is no
accident.
Having taken back the Temple, Judah
and the Maccabees wanted to hold
a grand reopening festival worthy of
the dwelling place of the Divine. For
inspiration, they looked to the biblical
holiday of Sukkot, which, among other
things, marked the dedication of the
original tabernacle and lasted for eight
days (seven days, plus Shemini Atzeret).
No wonder Lennon and McCartney
chose the eight-day week to symbolize
love that goes above and beyond.
"Light My Candle" (from the 1996
Tony-winning musical Rent)
This is an obvious choice for its title
alone — even if the lyrics aren't the
most PG-rated.
For those who don't know the story
(based on Puccini's La Boheme), this
number is about the power of bringing
a little light into someone's dark times,
acting with kindness toward a stranger
in need.
The image of light is perhaps the old-
est symbol of goodness, purity and hope
in human imagination. Rabbi Arthur
Waskow, in Seasons of Our Joy, points
out that Chanukah is scheduled close in
time to the winter solstice, the longest
night of the year, and so may truly have
been a "festival of light" for ancient
Israelites.
"Seize the Day" (from Newsies, the
1992 cult film and now hit Broadway
musical)
Chanukah celebrates the improbable
victory of the Jewish people in their
struggle for political and religious inde-
pendence from the Hellenistic Seleucid
Empire. Any musical based on the
Maccabees story would need to include
a song like this one, all about stepping
up and facing down a fearsome enemy
in the name of freedom:
"Nothing can break us/no one can
make us/give our rights away/arise and
seize the day!"
30% OFF TOTAL BILL*
`After 5pm, Dinner Entrees only,
Now through 12/30/13, Both Locations, Dine-in only.
I
Buy one
Dinner get
One 50% OFF
With coupon. Not valid with any other offers.
......................
'
s
.....
=====
Leon's of Wixom
Moe's on Ten
29710 Wixom Road • Wixom
39455 West 10 Mile, Novi
248.926.5880
248.478.9742
www.leonsofwixom.com
www.moeso n1 0.com
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Catering
WISHING OUR CUSTOMERS
Order your
Holiday Trays now...
Meat Trays
starting as low as
per
person
(8 parson
minimum)
248-540-7220 •
Fax 248-540-6269
877 W Long Lake at Telegraph • Bloomfield Hills
1874750
"You Spin Me Round" (from the 1985
album Youthquake by the British New
Wave band Dead or Alive)
Though games of chance are not gener-
ally looked upon favorably in rabbinic
literature, spinning the dreidel has
become an indispensable Chanukah
pastime. Not only that, but "Dreidel,
Dreidel Dreidle (I Made It Out of Clay),"
has without a doubt become the most
widely recognized Jewish holiday tune
on the North American continent.
For a twist (couldn't help myself) this
year, let the kids twirl themselves dizzy
to one of the quintessential sounds of
the 1980s.
"Wannabe" (from the 1996 album
Spice by British pop band the Spice
Girls)
Finding the perfect Chanukah present is
a complicated affair. Since we don't (yet)
ask kids to open Chanukah gift regis-
tries, gift buying can easily become an
exercise in thankless guesswork.
Perhaps we could all save ourselves
some aggravation by adopting the frank
attitude of this girl-group classic's open-
ing dialogue: "So tell me what you want,
what you really, really want!" "I'll tell you
what I want, what I really, really want!"
"So tell me what you want, what you
really, really want!" "I'll tell you what I
want, what I really, really want!" ❑
Binyamin Kagedan has a master's degree in
Jewish thought from the Jewish Theological
Seminary of America.
The Staff of Beau Jacks
Wishes All Our Customers A
Happy Chanukah!
4108 West Maple • Bloomfield Hills
(248) 626-2630
We Wish Our Friends and Customers
A Happy Chanukah!
&o l de ► Ph oe n ix
Chinese American Restaurant
Sugar Tree Plaza
6257 Orchard Lake Rd.
■
West Bloomfield 855-3570 1874790
November 28 • 2013
71