Hanukah candles

I'm annoyed with Target.

Usually, I like that store, but I have a complaint that extends to so many stores in the south. This time, Target is the offender.

There are many aisles of Christmas stuff every year, as well makes sense. Most people around here are Christian. But not all people are, and being a minority, Jews are used to having to go to stores in neighborhoods that have other Jews to look for what we need. It comes with the territory.

The needs for Hanukah are simple. Candles, that's it. The dreidel cookie cutters are cute, and the menorah wrapping paper is pretty, but cookies and gift wrap are not part of our tradition. It's just a take-off on Christmas, and we won't get upset if you run out, but how hard is it to order enough candles?

We're not talking about a lot of shelf space. One brand and one set of colors works just fine. They aren't perishable. If there are any left, they'll hold until next year, but there are never any left, because the stores don't order enough. They wouldn't dream of not having enough Christmas cards or ornaments.

This isn't the first year this has happened to us.

Back when we lived in NC, one year, our synagogue started a hot line for Passover matzoh sightings. All the grocery stores in western and southern Wake county had seriously under ordered, and this is an item you have to have for a seder. For the stores in the southern part of the county, where we lived, it was an understandable error. It was an area that had been rural and was changing, and most likely, whoever ordered didn't know that the Matzohs already on the shelf would not suffice, even though Not for Passover is clearly marked on the box. In western Wake, where most of our congregation lived, it was inexcusable.

So anyway, when I asked the salesclerk at Target where the Hanukah candles were, I was told they had run out a while ago. I paid for my purchases and left, annoyed. This isn't in my neighborhood, not close by, and the supermarket I shop at serves several mostly-black neighborhoods. They don't carry Jewish stuff, and I wouldn't expect them to. Same with the rural grocery up the hill from my house.

That year of the matzoh shortage, I made my own flatbreads. I had a coffeehouse with a bakery then, and why not? They didn't taste very good, but the ones the Jews ate in Exodus probably didn't either.

So I made my own candles. I had not hand dipped candles since I was a child in summer camp, and I'm not sure I'll make it a yearly tradition, but there they are. It's easy to do.

Melt wax (I have loads of candles, so I melted some). Dip a wick in wax, then water, then wax, then water, over and over until it builds up to the right width. It took about twenty dips. Then roll it against the counter so the bottom will be cylindrical, instead of a blob.

I'll let you know how they burn.