by Richard Cohen
This year Chanukah began three nights after Thanksgiving. Oy Veh!
While we were still stuffing ourselves with leftovers — turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie — in the Jewish community, we started planning meals including the holiday centerpiece of “latkes”: fried potato pancakes with applesauce or sour cream. Others from Mideastern heritage, or palates, planned to buy or make jelly donuts known in Israel as “sufganiyot.”
What did we expect would happen during this, the second pandemic year? Nothing feels the same. Few things are. Certainly not for those of us who lost loved ones due to the pandemic nor for those who continue to wear masks even after vaccination and boosters, because we’ve seen friends get sick (but not hospitalized). In-person events do not feel the same. You never know how you will react to the virus nor who or what is safe. Many of us still don’t feel comfortable eating inside restaurants. Some of us have enjoyed playing outside pickleball (like me), but inside games just don’t feel safe even with a mask, at a time of variants, when most players don’t wear masks and a few have had “breakthrough infections.”
Here in Morgantown, the Tree of Life Congregation, the center of Jewish life and observance in Morgantown, decided to offer in-person worship, observance and gatherings only when the COVID infection rates are low. Additionally, families with young children decided against attending in-person services, religious school and holiday observances.
Then came Chanukah, which is for me, and for most Jewish people, the favorite Jewish holiday. Sadly, for the second year in a row, there will be no in-person Chanukah party in the Tree of Life social hall. Instead, we will meet remotely to offer greetings, to light candles and sing.
All the members of the now world-famous Tree of Life Latke Brigade, which I lead, are left idle, or relegated to the small stage of cooking for their family or for a small gathering. In years past, the women would have a night off, as the brigade would fry the batter made from fifty pounds of potatoes in a raucous kitchen crowded with 30 men of all ages. Before Rabbi Joe would commence the games, songs and plays, we would serve hundreds of latkes to a large crowd of hungry, happy families and kids of all ages. The congregation would always begin the party by everyone joining in to light their family’s Chanukah Menorah (the Chanukiah) as part of a happy crowd, illuminating the large area with flickering candle light. This year, we share the ceremony on Zoom or with a few people in person. It’s meaningful, but just not as much fun.
The good news is that we are a resilient people in a resilient country with some reasons for optimism.
We hope and pray that next year we will be able to gather, observe, pray and celebrate Chanukah together as before.
Richard Cohen is a former president of the Tree of Life Congregation, its Ritual Committee chair and the commander of the world-famous Tree of Life Latke Brigade.
