Seniors Situation Room by Dawn Ford – Happy Chanukah 2018 & Tiger Tales! 112518

Our Jewish friends will be celebrating Hanukkah for eight days from the evening of Dec 3 rd. to December 10th.

Hanukkah or Chanukah is the Jewish wintertime “Festival of Lights”. It is celebrated with nightly lightings of the menorah, with special prayers , blessings and fried food such as the potato latke (pancake) with applesauce or sour cream and the jellied-filled sufganiyot (doughnuts).

The menorah holds nine candles, one of which, the ‘Shamash’ is used to light the other eight, one each night.

There is rich history associated with Hanukkah, according to the web sites I read. In the second century BCE a small army of faithful Jews led by Judah, the Maccabee, defeated a very strong army of Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks) who ruled the Holy Land.

The Jews drove the Greeks from the Holy Land and reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. They rededicated the Temple to the service of G-d. When they tried to light the Menorah in the Temple, there was only one uncontaminated cruse of olive oil. They lit the menorah and miraculously the one day supply lasted eight days. They instituted the Festival of Chanukah to commemorate and celebrate the miracle.

One web site had an article on what the Chanukah flickering lights could be telling us which is beautiful:

a) Never be afraid to stand up for what’s right. Judah Maccabee and his band faced daunting odds, but that didn’t stop them. With a prayer on their lips and faith in their hearts, they entered the battle of their lives – and won. We can do the same.

b) Always increase in matters of goodness and Torah-observance. Sure, a single flame was good enough for yesterday, but today needs to be even better.

c) A little light goes a long way. The Chanukah candles are lit when dusk is falling. Perched in a doorway, they serve as a beacon for the darkening streets. No matter how dark it is outside, a candle of G-dly goodness can transform the darkness into light.

d) Take it to the streets. Chanukah is unique in that its primary mitzvah is observed in public. It’s not enough to be a Jew at heart, or even in the home. Chanukah teaches us to shine outwards into our surroundings with the G-dly glow of mitzvahs.

e) Don’t be ashamed to perform mitzvahs, even if you feel different. Rather, like a menorah, proudly proclaiming its radiant uniqueness for all to see.

(https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article )

Happy Hanukkah to all our Jewish friends.

One of our wonderful physicians will be celebrating a birthday on December 2nd. – Dr. Nat Shah. Dr. Shah, Citizen of the Year 1984, is a well known doctor and volunteer extraordinaire. Over the years he has volunteered with such organizations as the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Mount Carmel House Treatment Center, Parade of Nations, and the Children’s Treatment Center to name a few.

He is co-founder ( 1985) with Bonnie and Fred Cappuccino of Child Haven International which helps destitute children and women in Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Tibet in China.

Happy Happy Birthday Dr. Shah and many more. Thank you for all your help for our community. Kudos

Here is a photo of Dr. Shah in a fun moment with his daughter Sarika…who is also a doctor:

Photo courtesy of Sarika…..with a little help from her friend Charlene Widrick.

I have had this book. “The Way to Write” for a long time but it is a mystery because it doesn’t have any publisher or copyright dates listed. There does not seem to have pages been ripped out. It doesn’t have an author although the Preface ends with two initials: R.F. and A.H.L. I went on line to see if there was any info on it but nothing. It is a great book with lots of helpful information including grammar. It is a mystery though. Who wrote it??

This time of year my Mom always had a few words of advice for us. One was to not go out for an hour after showering or bathing because, she said, our pores were all open and we could get a chill easily. Also, don’t go out in the cold with wet hair. Don’t sleep in a draft or with a fan blowing on you. And when I was going out the door in the cold weather, “Put your hat on.” Lucky when I was a teenager we had Duffle coats with hoods so I didn’t have to put on an old darn hat!!!

My Mom had her remedies for whatever ailed anyone. Stomach problems? Take Eno. Headache? Take Bufferin. Something sore? Rub it with Menard’s Lineament. And we all remember having our chest rubbed with Vicks when we had a cold. Mom said in the old days if someone had a fever they would put onions in their socks in bed…..must have been lovely smelling onions all night!! Enough to make you teary-eyed too. Lots of home remedies in those days I guess, including ‘the cure all’, Chicken Soup.

I was in a restaurant lately and noticed sitting in a booth at the back… Santa Claus.

I have never seen anyone who looked more like Santa Claus than this man. I have never seen Santa Claus and probably most of you haven’t either but if I had, I would say this man is him. If there had been any kids round they would have been all over him:” How many elves do you have, Santa? Is Rudolph leading your team this year? Did you get my letter??” Apparently this gentleman often substitutes for Santa Claus for Christmas events. I can see why. Dead ringer.

Tiger is something else!! He has a little white bed. I keep a little blanket on it to keep it clean and as fur free as possible. The other day while he was sleeping on his bed in the hall, I took away the blanket from the white bed to replace it. I went into another room to get a clean blanket and do a few things. When I came back, guess what???…he was sound asleep on the white bed. I woke him up to so I could get him up and put the clean blanket on the bed but he just opened his eyes and gave me a very hostile look that said, “I’m sleeping!!” Then he curled up and went back to sleep again. That cat is going to drive me to drink!!. Thinks he is the boss of this house……well, maybe!!

He is a sweetie, though. Whenever I put his food down on the mat for him, he rubs and rubs my hand as if to say “Thank you”. So cute.

Here he is on his little white bed minus the blanket with no intentions of moving:

Here are a few jokes sent in from a friend about a telephone operator talking to callers:

Customer: “I’ve been calling 700-1000 for two days and can’t get through. Can you help?”

Operator: ” Where did you get that number, sir?”

Customer: ” It’s on the door of your business.”

Operator: ” Sir, those are the hours we are open.”

Caller: “I’d like the number of the Argo Fish Bar, please.”

Operator: “I’m sorry. There is no listing. Are you sure that the spelling is correct?”

Caller: “Well, it used to be called the Bargo Fish Bar but the ‘B’ fell off.”

Have a good week, Dawn



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