By Christiénne Miller

‘Tis the time of year I’m reminded — by my mother — that we are, in fact, part Jewish.

I say part, because the association comes from my grandfather (my mother’s deceased father), and in Jewish tradition as I understand it, a true Jewish lineage has to come through the mothers only.

Though I did have a few Jewish boyfriends over the years who said they’d be happy to have me, mutt Jew or not, it was this understanding that discouraged me from claiming any Jewish heritage. But enough about me and my religious neurosis, let’s get back to Chanukah (Hanukkah).

Much in the same way I love many of the messages and stories used to celebrate the myriad of meanings associated with Christmas, I love the ones surrounding this Festival of Lights too. They speak of the deeper meaning of faith, miracles, love, hope and joy and transcend materialism to hit us at our core — though gifts are a nice part of it…seriously, why lie?

And so, with a shout out to one of my favorite Jews, Adam Sandler, as well as all those celebrating Chanukah (Hanukkah) this year: May your gelt overflow and your dreidels spin freely, as the light from your Menorahs illuminate all that you love. Or maybe, I’ll just second the Obama’s Hanukkah message, since they put it in a much more eloquent way…

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