Hanukkah
Takes place: Years before Code Lyoko
In East Germany in December of 1970, a young boy around ten years of age was being dropped off at a small house near the Berlin Wall. As he stepped out of the car he turned to the man in the driver's seat.
"Now remember, Johannes." He said. "You call me as soon as you are ready to leave or if you end up staying the night."
"Yes, Dad." Johannes said.
"I love you."
"Love you, too." Johannes said closing the door as his dad drove off.
Johannes Stern was on his was to visit his best friend Anthony Schaeffer. Anthony and his family, who are Jewish, were celebrating the last day of an important Jewish holiday: Hanukkah. Tonight was the last night and Anthony, who, according to him, had a very nice surprise for this night, had invited Johannes for Hanukkah dinner, games and at the end, the lighting of the menorah.
Johannes then walked over to the door of the house and knocked twice. The door opened to reveal a young boy around the same age.
"Hey, Anthony." Johannes said.
"Johannes, you made it." Anthony said hugging his friend. "Please come in, we're just about to get ready."
Anthony led Johannes into the kitchen where he found several people conversing amongst themselves.
"Excuse me." Anthony said. Everyone turned their attention to Anthony. "Everyone, this is my best friend, Johannes Stern. He will be visiting us for tonight as we light the last candle."
"Shalom, Johannes." They all said.
"Umm, Shalom to you too."
"Johannes you already know my Mom, Meredith, my Dad, Julius and Waldo, my big brother. It's time I show you the extended family." Anthony said. He then led Johannes to an old couple at the end of the room.
"Johannes, this is my Grandma and Grandpa."
"Hello." Johannes said.
"Oh hello, dear." Anthony's grandmother said.
"Good to see you, young man." His grandfather said.
He then showed him to a younger couple around his parents' ages.
"And this is my aunt Milka and my uncle Nesher."
Johannes just waved at them.
"And these are my little cousins." Anthony said pointing to three smaller kids. "Boris, Chaim and Miri."
"Hi."
"Hi."
"Hi." Each one said.
"Well, now that Johannes is here, why don't I serve up dinner and everyone else get ready?" Waldo said.
"That's a good idea." Meredith said. "Everyone to the dining room."
Everyone just walked to the dining room and sat down in various spots at a large table. Anthony and Johannes sat next to each other.
"Hey, Johannes." Anthony said passing him a small object. Johannes looked and saw that it was a small piece of cloth. It was all black and it was shaped like a hollow hemisphere.
"What is it?" Johannes asked.
"It's a yarmulke." Anthony said. "You wear it on your head."
Johannes looked and saw that, indeed, the rest of the males in the family were wearing similar articles on their heads.
"Go ahead. Try it on." Johannes just placed it on his head.
"How do I look?" Johannes asked.
"Like a shegetz trying too hard." Julius said.
"Julius!" Meredith said. "You look fine, Johannes."
"So what exactly is Hanukkah?" Johannes asked Anthony.
"On the 25th day of Kislev, or the second week of December, the Jewish people have a Festival of Lights to commemorate the Maccabee Revolt in Judea." Anthony explained. "It was said in the Talmud that after the rededication of the Temple, the wicks of the Menorah burned for eight days, even though there was only enough oil to last for one day. As such, we light a similar menorah for eight nights in honor of the lights."
"Alright, dinner's on." Waldo said as he passed a series of plates onto the table. "Everyone take your pick."
"You certainly have a lot of fried food." Johannes commented.
"It is part of the Hanukkah tradition to serve foods fried in oil to symbolize the oil that lasted for eight days." Anthony said.
"So what is everything?" Johannes asked.
"Over there are latkes, they're like potato pancakes." Anthony said pointing at one plate. "And here we have the loukoumades, kugel, blintzes, holishkes, challah, and my mom's famous beef brisket."
"I thought beef wasn't kosher." Johannes said.
"No, you're thinking of pork." Anthony said.
"Waldo, would you care to lead us in the Blessing?" Uncle Nesher asked.
"Absolutely." Waldo said. He them folded his hands and chanted.
"Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu, Melekh ha'olam, bo're minei m'zonot."
"Amein." The family said.
"Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu Melekh ha'olam, bo're p'ri ha'gafen."
"Amein."
"Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu Melekh ha'olam, bo're p'ri ha'adama."
"Amein."
"Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu Melekh ha'olam, she'hakol nih'ye bidvaro."
"Amein."
The family then passed the food around, making sure that everyone got something. Once everyone had what they wanted, they all began eating. Johannes found that he couldn't get enough of the food.
"My goodness, this is delicious." Johannes said. "How come I've never heard of this."
"Probably because you aren't Jewish." Anthony said. "No offense."
"None taken." Johannes said. "So after dinner do we light the candles?"
"Actually, me and the cousins were going to play dreidel until everyone else has finished." Anthony said. "You wanna join?"
"Sure." Johannes said. "How do you play?"
"Come on, I'll show you." Anthony said as he and his cousins left the table with Johannes following them.
Anthony then pulled out a bag of chocolate coins in gold foil and dumped them on the floor.
"First we divide the coins evenly among all players." Anthony said passing out the coins one at a time.
"Once the coins are divided, we each place one in the center. That's the pot." Anthony said. Everyone then placed their coins in the middle and Anthony pulled out a small wooden top.
"This is the dreidel." Anthony said showing him the top. "Each player takes turns spinning it. What it lands on determines how many coins the player gets."
"What does each symbol mean exactly?" Johannes asked.
"I was just getting to that." Anthony said holding the top in front of him so that one side was showing.
"This is shin." Anthony said. "When it lands on this, it means you put one coin into the pot."
He then turned it around showing him the other symbols.
"Hei means you get half of what's in the pot, nun means you do nothing and gimel means you get the whole pot. The game goes on until one person has everything. Understand so far?"
"I think I do."
"Since you're my guest, I'll let you go first."
Johannes then took the dreidel and spun it. After spinning for a few seconds, it landed and showed a symbol.
"Woah." Anthony said surprised.
"What?" Johannes asked.
"You just landed on gimel." Anthony said.
"Wait." Johannes said. "Does that mean…?"
"You get all the pot." Chaim said.
"Wow." Miri said. "I've never seen someone get gimel on the first spin."
"Well, this is certainly lucky." Johannes said taking the five coins from the pot.
They kept playing for a while. Anthony ended up having the most coins when they were told to put it away.
"Why do we have to stop?" Johannes asked. "We were having so much fun."
"It's time to light the candles." Boris said.
"Alright, everyone." Anthony's grandfather said bringing out a large metal artifact. It consisted of nine prongs sticking out from the base, with the center one being slightly taller than the rest. Inside the prongs were nine unlit candles.
"What's that?" Johannes asked.
"That's the menorah." Anthony said. "Each night, one candle is lit for each night of Hanukkah that has passed. Tonight's the eighth night so we light eight candles."
"Who lights the candles?" Johannes asked.
"In Jewish tradition, the oldest lights the candles on the first night, then the next oldest and so on." Anthony said. "And tonight just happens to be the night where I light the candles."
"Wait." Johannes said. "You're lighting the candles tonight?"
"Yeah." Anthony said. "Why do you think I waited until tonight to invite you?"
"I don't know, I guess…"
"Alright, Anthony." Aunt Milka said. "Ready to begin?"
"Mhmm." Anthony said. He then lit a match and placed the flame on the candle in the center. Anthony then picked up the candle and they all began chanting.
Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam
asher kidishanu b'mitz'votav v'tzivanu
l'had'lik neir shel Chanukah.
Amein
Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam
she'asah nisim la'avoteinu bayamim haheim baziman hazeh.
Amein
When the chanting was done, Anthony began to light the candles.
"So how come you have nine candles when they're eight nights of Hanukkah?" Johannes asked.
"It's forbidden to use any of the other candles to light anything else." Anthony said. "So we use the shammus, or center candle, to light the candles or anything else in need of lighting. We light the menorah from right to left, the same way Hebrew text is read."
Anthony then took the shammus and lit the candles from right to left until the menorah was fully lit.
"Wow." Johannes said in quiet awe.
"It's so pretty." Miri said.
"Anthony, do you think I could light the candles one year?" Chaim asked.
"Sure, maybe someday." Anthony said.
"Alright, time for bed kids." Waldo said."Johannes, you should probably head home."
"Aww, can't Johannes stay the night?" Boris asked.
"Yeah, Johannes is fun to have around." Miri whined.
"Nonsense." Waldo said. "Johannes has to get back home before his dad worries."
"Actually, if it's alright with you, I can tell my dad that I'll be staying the night." Johannes said. He then turned to Julius and Meredith. "So is it okay with you?"
"Absolutely." Meredith said. "We can make some space in Anthony's room and you can sleep there."
"Alright, sleepover!" Anthony said.
With that, Johannes let his dad know he would be spending the night and got himself ready. After setting up a sleeping space on the floor by Anthony's bed, he got undressed and under the covers.
"Hey Anthony." Johannes said. "Think we can do this again next year?"
"Absolutely." Anthony said. "It was fun having you over tonight."
"Well, goodnight." Johannes said.
"Goodnight." Anthony said shutting off the light and heading to bed.
Four Years Later…
At a nearby middle school, the bell rang signaling the end of the school day. Johannes and Anthony, along with their new friend Ilsa, who they had met not too long ago.
"So, any plans for the weekend?" Ilsa asked.
"Well as you know, Saturday is Shabbat so I'm not doing anything then." Anthony said. "We'll be having Hanukkah dinner on Sunday though."
"Oh nice." Ilsa said. "What's Hanukkah?"
"Would you like to see?" Johannes asked.
"Sure."
"Ilsa can come, right?" Johannes asked Anthony. Anthony just nodded.
"Nice." Ilsa said. "So where do I meet you?"
"Just come over Sunday evening when you can." Johannes said. "Once you arrive, we'll explain everything."
"Well thanks for inviting me." Ilsa said. "I'll see you then."
With that, the three left ready to make the most of the weekend before the big night.