ON THE THIRD NIGHT OF HANUKKAH WE READ THE FOLLOWING FOLK TALE AT OUR TABLE which emphasizes the value of tradition, of knowing how to be hungry and how to be full and to accept the inevitable changes of life while holding onto those which are most valuable.
The Perez family had Mom, Dad, a boy and a girl. Every year at Hanukkah they played a game with a round wooden spinning top called a Dreidel. Hebrew letters are printed on each side of the top. No one knows where it will fall. Everyone hopes for the letter GIMMEL, meaning the winner takes all.
Now the Perez family was poor. Dad sold a little of this and a little of that. One day Papa bought some old rusty bars from a soldier, shined them up and discovered that in fact they were GOLD. All of a sudden their lives changed. They sold everything, bought new furniture, took the children to fancy clothesmakers, hairdressers and enrolled them in new schools.
They should have been happy but all of a sudden no one had time to spend together any more. The parents were too busy and the children had to travel much farther to their private schools. They missed their friends and the homemade things they and their parents and old family friends used to make. They were rich but lonely.
But life, like the dreidel took another turn and spun out of control. Papa's business failed due to a recession. The bills piled up and just as quick as the riches had come the family was in debt and poor again, more than before. Mom & Dad were sad and worried. It was almost time for Hanukkah again. The daughter bought the candles with a few pennies she had managed to save and then went searching for the old bent and dented Hanukkah lamp she and her brother had hidden before Mom & Dad sold all the old stuff. There it was between the stove and the wall with the old silverware, playing cards and a few other items they had managed to hide.
Mom & Dad smiled when they saw that the children had wisely saved what was really important. AS they settled in for a small Hanukkah dinner with the lighting of the candles they were interrupted by a knock at their door. A neighbor named Baruch introduced them to a man who had come all the way from England to visit this small Jewish settlement in Eastern Europe. " I am sorry to disturb you on this important night " said Baruch but this guy is buying broken things for high prices to put in a museum in England. The family sold the Englishman everything...except for the bent Hanukkah lamp. The candles must continue to burn they decided to remind them of how important their little family was to each other. Baruch smiled, apologized again for the interruption and left. The Englishman thanked them after paying a hefty sum for their silver wares.
The family prayed prayers of thanks to God for the gift that night of GIMMEL but this time they promised each other and GOD that they would never again sell or give away what was most precious--their love for each other and God. They got a few new things but they kept their faithful friends and their faithful Hanukkah lamp which had sustained them and brought them safely to this SEASON.
