"Fireside Diaries"
Story Written by Freedom Fighter
There aren't very many Jewish characters on TV, particularly in animation. This is also why very few shows do a special episode dedicated to the holiday known as Chanukah. Maybe at some point they won't be as rare, particularly if Dan and Swampy decide to do that proposed "Fireside Girls" spin-off. But since that hasn't come to fruition yet, allow me to present the first "Fireside Diaries" holiday special, centering on Chanukah!
Before I begin, I'd like to state that I am not Jewish. I did my research and present the traditions as they were meant to be celebrated, with one small exception, so please don't bite my head off if I misspelled a Hebrew word or something. This is done with the utmost respect, and I hope all of you will do the same.
That being said... sit back and enjoy!
Disclaimer: The characters of 'Phineas and Ferb' belong to Disney.
Entry #189 - Written by Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, troop leader
When December rolls around, all of my friends start counting down the days to Christmas. They love decorating the tree, singing carols, and writing a wish list for Santa Claus. That's all well and good, but for me, there's another holiday that I'm more excited about.
"Isa!" shouted Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro from the kitchen. "It's time!"
"Coming, Mom!"
Isabella excitedly ran down the stairs. She picked up a lighter from the counter and then joined her mother in front of a menorah that had been set up. Two candles were already in place and ready to go - one in the center and one in the position furthest to the right. Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro began reciting a blessing.
"Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha'olam, asher qiddeshanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu lehadliq ner shel Chanukah."
That holiday is Chanukah. Or Hanukkah, whichever you prefer.
Once she was finished, she turned to her daughter.
"Ready to light the menorah?"
Isabella nodded. She turned on the lighter and used it to light the middle candle, or shamash. As was tradition, Isabella then used that freshly-lit candle to then light the other one, as was tradition. Once she was finished, she looked back over her shoulder at her mom, who smiled back.
Chanukah, also often referred to as the Festival of Lights, is a Jewish holiday that last eight days and eight nights.
Each night, at sunset, we light the menorah! With each new night, a new candle is lit to signify the number of days that have passed so far.
Isabella was shown lighting two candles on the second night, three on the third, etc., making sure to light the most recently-placed one first and working backwards.
Each night I also get a present, totaling eight and all! Not that getting presents is what Chanukah is about, but... it's a nice little extra...
Isabella was seen being given a different present every night, ranging from chocolate gelt to a hand-knit sweater with a dreidel on it.
But as fun as Chanukah can be, sometimes I feel as if it's the loneliest holiday ever. You know, like I'm throwing a party but nobody shows up.
So this year, I decided to invite my friends to celebrate with me!
It was the eighth and final day of Chanukah, and Isabella was leading her troop to the Danville Community Center.
"Thanks for volunteering to help set up the Chanukah Community Celebration, girls!"
"No problem, Chief!" Gretchen said. "We're just glad you invited us to celebrate with you this year."
"Trust me. You girls won't regret this!"
Isabella led them to the set of double doors leading inside. The girls' eyes lit up in anticipation as their leader prepared to pull them open.
"Girls... this is Chanukah!"
She pulled the doors open, and a bright light nearly blinded the girls...
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Entry #189-1 [FSD301] - Chanukah, Part 1 (12.10.12)
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The Fireside Girls shielded their eyes with their arms until the light faded. Once it did, though, they were greeted by the sight of a large, mechanical menorah. Of course, it was constructed by none other than Phineas and Ferb, who were standing next to it.
"Hi, Phineas!" greeted Isabella, as she stepped towards him. "So... whatcha doin'?"
"Making this giant menorah!"
"Ooh! What does it do? Is there a built-in laser show? Or does it spin 'round and 'round?"
The boys looked at each other, confused. Phineas then turned to Isabella to give his answer.
"Um, it's just a menorah. That lights up."
He pointed at his stepbrother, who pulled out a one-button remote. Pressing the button, the mechanical menorah lit up... except for the small bulbs representing the flames of the candles.
"No actual lighting until sunset, of course."
"Whoa..." gasped all the girls, in astonishment.
"That's great, Phineas!" squealed Isabella.
"If you think that's cool, wait until you see what we have planned for later!"
Behind the community center, Buford and Baljeet had already started on the 'later' idea, which was covered by a big, blue sheet. Buford was atop a ladder, dumping a cylindrical can's contents into the bigger end of a funnel, with the smaller end connected to a tube that went under the sheet.
"There we go!"
He climbed back down, and once back on the ground, he was greeted by a displeased Baljeet, who was holding a new can.
"Buford! You were supposed to get raisins! Not... these!"
He spun the can around so that the label was visible. It turned out that Buford had not bought raisins, but chocolate-covered ants instead.
Buford, though, did not see it as a problem.
"Meh... they taste the same anyway."
Suddenly, the ants, which were actually alive, started crawling out of the can and onto Baljeet. By the time he realized it, there were dozens and dozens of them on him.
"AIYEEEE! ANTS! ANTS!"
Baljeet started running to and fro, hoping he could shake them off. Buford just stood there and watched.
"BUFORD! I'VE GOT ANTS IN MY PANTS! HELP ME!"
"Nah, I'm good."
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" screamed the Indian boy as he ran by Buford once more.
Back inside...
"Thanks for inviting us, by the way," Phineas told Isabella. "What kind of friends would we be if we didn't celebrate ALLof our friends' traditions?"
Isabella blushed. "Thanks! You know, later we could..."
Suddenly, they heard Baljeet screaming for his life outside.
"Yeah, we better check on that. C'mon, Ferb!"
The boys ran off to see what was up. Isabella sighed.
"One of these days," Isabella swore to herself.
She reluctantly decided to show the girls around, while explaining the holiday to them.
"So what you're saying, Chief, is that Chanukah is the celebration of the rededication of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem following a revolt by that city's people against their tyrannical Seleucid Empire?"
"Wow, Gretchen, you catch on quick!"
"And what about the candles?" questioned Ginger.
"Well, back at the time, the Jewish city folk wanted to light a menorah to signify their liberation. The problem was that they barely had enough oil to keep it burning for just one day, and it took eight days to prepare a fresh supply. But by some miracle, the menorah stayed lit exactly eight days and nights. That miracle is why we celebrate Chanukah!"
"Ohhhhhh..." the girls said in unison.
"Isa!"
"MOM!"
Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro walked up, with a bowl full of latke batter in one arm and a ladle in the other. Pinky the Chihuahua was with them, and he barked with glee as ran up to Isabella and ran circles around her.
"Hi, Pinky!"
She kneeled down to pick Pinky off the floor, and Isabella cradled him in her arms, he began to shake, as he normally did when stationary.
"We're ready to help set up the kids' play area! And to make sufganiyot!"
"Before you do, Isa, I need you girls to do a favor."
"Yes?"
"It turns out there was a mix-up. We were expecting a giant delivery of flour today, but the shipping company went on strike this morning and all of the drivers walked off... long story short, Isa, we've already used what little we had on hand and..."
"...flour run? Gotcha, Mom!"
"Say," Holly piped up, "we can give Pinky a walk while we're at it!"
"Great idea, Holly!"
Isabella looked down to see if Pinky agreed, but he was no longer there.
"Hey, where's Pinky?"
Pinky the Chihuahua had sneaked away from Isabella. After ensuring that no one was looking his way, he put his fedora on and then headed out of the community center via the doggy door installed in the exit door by the kitchen. Outside, he ran past the boys, who were trying to get the oddly alive chocolate-covered ants off of Baljeet...
"ANTS IN MY PANTS!"
"Baljeet, we can't get them off if you don't stand still!" Phineas shouted after him.
...and to a sandbox. He jumped into the center and disappeared into the sand. Strangely, once Pinky was completely in, a four-year old girl popped out.
"There you are, Serena!"
Her two elated parents ran up and picked her up.
"I told you the sandbox was dangerous!" snapped the mother.
"She was only in there for, like, three minutes," shouted the father in response.
Pinky dropped out of a pipe and landed in a swivel chair in his lair. The monitor in front of him was already on, as Admiral Acronym was present and ready to give him a mission briefing.
"I would say good afternoon, Agent Pinky," she began, "but there's no time for pleasantries! Professor Poofenplotz has taken it upon herself to buy all of the flour in the Tri-State Area! Well, not all of it, but she very may have well cleaned out close to every mom-and-pop shop and supplier by this point! We're not sure where she got the money, but regardless, this is a ghastly situation! Without flour, bake good production will come to a most unjoyous end, which is anything but smashing given it's the last day of Chanukah! Oh, do I adore sufganiyot."
"Arf!" barked Pinky.
"Oh, yes! Find out what she's up to, and end her flour-purchasing ways!"
Pinky saluted in confirmation, and then bolted for the exit.
Isabella and the Fireside Girls ran into the nearest supermarket and immediately headed for the flour aisle. But upon arriving there...
"The entire flour section is barren!" exclaimed Gretchen.
"Even those bags of salt mislabeled as flour are gone!" pointed out Adyson.
Isabella caught sight of a stocker walking by, and waved him over for assistance.
"Excuse me, but do you have any more flour?"
"'Fraid not," the young man replied. "Some woman came in earlier today and bought it all."
"Do you know why?"
"No, and I don't care. Now, if you'll excuse me, these bags of dog food aren't gonna stock themselves."
He went back to his cart full of different brands of dog food, and resumed pushing it towards the pet supplies aisle.
"We need to find flour," Isabella told the girls. "Gretchen?"
"Already on it!" the glasses-wearing girl replied, logging onto the map app on her cell phone. "Okay, there are three other grocery stores within a five-block radius, as well as a Jewish bakery."
"Let's split up, girls!"
The troop headed out of the building and split up. Milly and Katie ran off one way, Holly and Ginger a second, Gretchen and Adyson a third, and Isabella went off alone to the bakery.
Poofenplotz Evil is Crazy!
I... have no idea why I just sang that.
Pinky the Chihuahua had arrived at his arch nemesis' front door. To his surprise, she had installed a doggy door since the last time he saw her. Believing it to be a trap, he instead climbed up the side of the building and entered through a nearby open window. Once inside, though, he landed on a piece of parchment paper covered in honey.
He struggled for a few seconds to free himself, but then Professor Poofenplotz walked out, wearing an apron over her clothes.
"PINKY THE CHIHUAHUA! Still trying to stop me from taking over the world?"
Pinky responded by shivering.
"Too bad! This plan is foolproof... and puppy-proof!"
She explained her plan as she started to walk back across the room.
"After rising from a night of beauty sleep, I found myself having an insatiable craving for donuts! Which is kind of odd, since I don't have a fondness for them and I'm watching my figure... BUT NEVERTHELESS! I did not want to shame myself by walking into a donut shop; so instead, I've been buying flour by the truckload! You see, Pinky, when I bake, I bake! So I could not just make a half-dozen or even a full dozen! I have to make dozens upon dozens of donuts!"
She pointed out tray upon tray of freshly-baked donuts, stacked one on top of another and in rows of four.
"Upon doing so, I've come to realize that there was no way I could consume these delectable, yet devilish treats before they all went bad! So I have decided to donate them all to the wonderful people of Danville. And by donate, I mean smushing all of the little donuts together to make one humongous, forty-story tall donut that will flatten the city! All of this just to show the Tri-State Area that donuts are nothing to be trifled with!"
Pinky growled as he tried to break free his honey-glazed paws from the sticky parchment paper. But no matter what he did, Pinky could not get himself unstuck.
"Arf arf!" he barked.
"Oh, really, you didn't see it?"
She pointed out the window of the spherical-shaped room and just ahead, in plain sight, there was the gigantic donut. It was already more than twenty stories high, and it was still growing, as more and more donuts were being injected into the larger one by the dozen! A number of chefs, who had been called in to do the baking, were also responsible for bringing them out so they could be implanted.
"You thought I baked all those by myself in a matter of hours? Pish posh! I hired some cheap labor! And by cheap, I mean culinary student interns!"
On the ground floor, one of the interns was being reprimanded by another, more experienced one.
"You call these donuts? WHERE ARE THE HOLES?"
"I didn't know donuts had holes! I didn't even know what a donut was until an hour ago!"
"As for the flour, let's just say I made some good deals..."
Professor Poofenplotz pulled out a bunch of coupons and spread them like a hand of cards with just a flick of her wrist. Pinky gave her an odd look.
"Don't give me that! If stores didn't want to deal with double and triple coupons, they shouldn't have allowed them to exist! Now, if you'll excuse me, the last few trucks of flour are due to arrive any moment! I must make sure that they're soft and moldable!"
As she walked out of the room, Pinky again made an attempt to extricate himself from the trap.
Isabella walked out of the Jewish bakery with her cell phone in hand.
"Fireside Girls, report!"
Inside Super Food Stuff Mart...
"All out, Chief!" stated Gretchen.
Over at Apple's Grocers...
"Nothing here either," reported Ginger.
And at the third place...
Milly and Katie were huddled around the former's cell phone, looking a little scared as they stood behind a podium.
"I don't think this is a real grocery store," mumbled Milly.
"ACTION!" shouted a man from off to the side.
Music started playing in the background. A booming voice came out of the loudspeaker.
"It's time to play 'Supermarket Sweep!'"
"No go either, huh?" Isabella asked. "Oh, and if you girls win, you're giving all of us a cut!"
With that, Isabella dropped Milly from the call, leaving her connected to Gretchen and Ginger.
"We're out of places we can get to easily on foot," Isabella thought aloud. "We've got to get mobile if we have any hope of finding some flour!"
"But what happens if everyone ends up out, Chief?" questioned Gretchen. "You know how Danville is very susceptible to that!"
Isabella sighed. "I guess we should head back. It's not the end of the world if we don't have any flour to make sufganiyot."
"Aww," whined Ginger. "But sufganiyot is good!"
"Ginger, do you even know what sufganiyot is?"
"If you say it's something that has brussel sprouts in it..."
Suddenly, Isabella heard a scream off in the distance.
"That sounds like..."
Isabella took off running, heading back towards the Community Center...
As she headed back, she could seem a smoke cloud billowing from a nearby building. Soon enough, she saw the structure in question... it was the Community Center. Her mouth nearly fell off as she approaching the building. The fire department was already on the scene, attempting to get the blaze under control, and, thankfully, all of Isabella's family and friends, as well as all of the other volunteers, had gotten out safely.
"OMG!" shouted Isabella. "Mom, what happened?"
Her mom turned towards her to deliver the bad news, as Phineas and the boys sadly looked on.
"We're not sure, Isa. A fire started in the kitchen without warning, and before we knew it, it was out of control. I'm sorry... but we're going to have to cancel Chanukah."
Isabella's face turned a ghastly white in shock.
To be continued...