Cchhaannuukkaahh

Happy Chanukah! My last post didn't talk about the holiday too much, so I wanted to try again before the "eight crazy nights" come to an end.

Last night, some friends and I gathered together for a delightful Chanukah celebration. We had Manischewitz latkes, sans eggs, with apple sauce and Tofutti Sour Supreme on the side. A local grocery store sells greasy vegan donuts, which are a nice addition to any celebration. I was able to find a couple of bags of dark-chocolate gelt hidden amongst the milk-chocolate variety at a local kosher store. We lit the menorah together and played a few rounds of dreidel, despite persistent interference from Tucker. We also listened to "Lonely Jew at Christmas" as well as "Maoz Tzur" and some other Chanukah-themed songs by Yidcore.

I have a letter to the editor about Chanukah in this week's Jewish Journal of Los Angeles:

My mouth was watering as I read about Follow Your Heart's annual all-vegetarian Chanukah feast ("Follow Your Heart to a Vegetarian Chanukah Feast," Dec. 15). But are latkes and vegetarian liver really that foreign to us? Indeed, there are tons of vegan dishes that are common Jewish foods, from falafel and hummus to blintzes and vegetarian cholent.

My favorite part about Chanukah and other Jewish holidays is getting together with loved ones and chowing down on the easily vegan versions of virtually all Jewish staples. Not only is it easy to be vegetarian, it's easy to be vegetarian and eat Jewish foods.