Eating Latkes in Gladness

On page twenty of the novel,
I come across a sentence
describing the result of an action
by Grazina, the old Lithuanian widow
feeding her Vietnamese live-in, Hai.

“A single perfectly-browned latke
slid onto his plate…” I stop reading,
cannot go further, until I digest this.
A devout Catholic feeding a Vietnamese
teenager a latke she prepared for him
in the town of Gladness, Connecticut?
Latkes are eaten on Hanukkah,
a Jewish celebration of light that
lasts for eight days, symbolized
by eight candles, one lit nightly.

My radar is in overdrive.
To even know what a latke is,
you had to have been raised
in a home that celebrated this
festival and enjoyed the crispiest
of potato pancakes fried in oil.

Catholic or not, I know deep inside
that Grazina must have been Jewish.
I picture her as a child spinning
the dreidel, collecting Hanukkah gelt,
singing Rock of Ages in Hebrew,
and lighting the Menorah.
What a festive time she must
have had with her family!

The text patiently continues
with no further explanation
until page 119, where we learn
Grazina’s mother was so afraid
of pogroms, she became Catholic.
(A story as old as the Bible.)
A small ritual, a food, a memory
will give away what you’re trying
to hide.

I wish so fervently that this protagonist
as a child could have been free to celebrate
the light of her faith with the freedom
my family celebrates Hanukkah here.

Looking for more great Hanukkah stories and encouraging moments? Check out these other pieces from the MockingOwl crowd.

• Octet – Hanukkah Fiction
• The Jewfish – A Holiday Tale
• I Am a Runner With Hope – Poetry
• Hanson Opperknockity – a Short Story
• For Sale – a Cozy Flash Fiction
• Good Versus Evil – a Fairy Tale
• Birth of a Dream – Narrative Poetry
• The Sprout of Hope – Protest Poetry

Evie Groch

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Evie Groch, Ed.D. is a Field Supervisor/Mentor for new administrators in Graduate Schools of Education. Her opinion pieces, humor, poems, short stories, recipes, word challenges, and other articles have been widely published in the New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Contra Costa Times, The Journal, Games Magazine, and many online venues. Many of her poems are in published anthologies. Her short stories, poems, and memoir pieces have won her recognition and awards. Her travelogs have been published online with Grand Circle Travel. The themes of travel, language, immigration, and justice are special for her.

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