By: Levi, Tavi, Chaya & Shoshana from the land of Presca RagaMuffins
Chanukah came early this year. The first night was celebrated the Sunday following Thanksgiving which is hardly fair considering we were still stuffed with all the trimmings from our Thanksgiving feast.
For those of you who are not familiar with Catty Chanukah, it is celebrated over 8 Days.
As the ancient Hebrew Cats recall, the Maccatabees defeated mean old Greek King Antiochuscats’ troops after a three year war. Oh it was a big dust-up with a lot of hissing and growling going on!
To celebrate their triumph, the Maccatabees and their neighbors lit a seven-pronged lamp, now called a Meownorah in 167 BCE (Before the Cat Era), but found they only had enough ‘tuna’ oil to keep it alight for 1 day. But a miracle happened, the lamp remained lit for eight days which allowed all the cats in the land of Purrrsia to search for more ‘tuna’ oil to keep the lamp burning as a sign of their great victory over King Antiochuscats.
So what does this mean to us cats today? Good question!
Each year we tell this great story so we remember our life before the Maccatabees set us free. Today we celebrate by playing a special game with a Dreidel (a wooden thingy that spins when you bat it). It’s really a secret cat code with the letters Shin, Gimel, Hay, Nun and means “A Great Miracle Happened Here”. Here’s how we play:
Mom holds a pile of Temptations Tuna Treats for us, we like them the best cuz they’re yummy!
The four of us gather in a circle and bat our dreidel to see what letter appears when it stops spinning. If the letter Shin comes up she gives each one of us a treat, if the letter Hay appears we get 1/2 a treat, if the letter Nun pops up then Mom gives us Nothing! But, if the letter Gimel shows up we get all the treats in her pile! Meowhooo!!!
Plus, each of us get a new toy each night for the 8 nights … we always love a new toy mouse, a ball, a crackly thing, a new box, or tissue paper to rip up. We run up and down the stairs, through the hallways, and all through the house joyously chasing each other and our new toy mouse.
We hope you enjoyed our story and in 2022 we hope you and your families experience Great Miracles.
Purrs and Nose Bumps to All!