Ellie's take on ...
Changes in the winter weather - expect even more bizarre events
Iran nuclear deal - seeing is believing
We are coming to the end of 2013. They say 13 is an unlucky number and it has been a tough year for most people. How has it affected you so far?
Sunday night's AMAs - I have to finish watching the show but loved what I saw so far.
American Music Awards: The top 6 moments CNN - November 25, 2013
1) Justin Timberlake epitomizes "crossover"
2) J.Lo pays tribute to Celia Cruz
3) Lady Gaga and R. Kelly get "Trapped in the Closet"
4) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis get political
5) Rihanna's mom presents her with an award
6) Miley Cyrus and her crying cat
finding peace in troubled times, Comet ISON,
and whatever dramas surface in our reality.
Have a safe journey.
My family and I really look forward to the holidays.
I have been busy buying gifts and making plans.
There are always the little things in life to be grateful for.
November 27 - December 5, 2013
Chanukah Festival of Lights
Latkes and Turkey this year
What are Latkes? Potato Pancakes
Latkes are traditionally eaten by Jews during the Hanukkah festival. The oil for cooking the latkes is symbolic of the oil from the Hanukkah story that kept the Second Temple of ancient Israel lit with a long-lasting flame that is celebrated as a miracle. Prior to the introduction of the potato to the Old World, latkes were, and in some places still are, made from a variety of other vegetables, cheeses, legumes, or starches, depending on the available local ingredients and foods of the various places where Jews lived.[citation needed] Despite the popularity of latkes and tradition of eating them during Hanukkah, they are hard to come by in stores or restaurants in Israel, having been largely replaced by the Hanukkah doughnut due to local economic factors, convenience and the influence of trade unions.
Humor and Music with Adam Sandler - "Put on the Yarmulka, It's time for Chanukah"
New York Today: The Local Roots of Thanksgivukkah New York Times - November 25, 2013
You may know by now that Thanksgiving this year falls on the first day of Hanukkah, a once-in-many-lifetimes coincidence. But the two holidays have more in common than you might think. And perhaps the best place in the United States to explore their overlap is Shearith Israel, the oldest Jewish congregation in the city (and the continent, for that matter).
Thanksgivukkah: Why Hanukkah and Thanksgiving Overlap This Year Live Science - November 22, 2013
It's a once in more than 70,000-year event: The first day of Hanukkah this year coincides with Thanksgiving. As a result, Jews everywhere are gearing up for "Thanksgivukkah," a mashup of Thanksgiving and the Jewish festival of lights. This lineup of the first day of Hanukkah with Thanksgiving is incredibly rare. That's not going to happen again or thousands and thousands of years. No one knows exactly how long, because the calendars aren't going up that high.
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens", to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26. As a federal and public holiday in the U.S., Thanksgiving is one of the major holidays of the year. Together with Christmas and New Year, Thanksgiving is a part of the broader holiday season.
The event that Americans commonly call the "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in 1621. This feast lasted three days, and it was attended by 90 Native Americans (as accounted by attendee Edward Winslow) and 53 Pilgrims. The New England colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating "thanksgivings" - days of prayer thanking God for blessings such as military victory or the end of a drought.
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade presented by the U.S. chain store business Macy's. The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States along with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, with both parades four years younger than the 6abc Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia. The three-hour Macy's event is held in New York City starting at 9:00 a.m. EST on Thanksgiving Day.
