• King Arthur Flour featured a scrumptious looking cupcake hanukkiyah in their newsletter this week. If I had children these would certainly be on my "must make" list.
• Also in the edible hanukkiyah category, check out this Forward article on challahs shaped like hanukkah menorahs.
• Barack Obama shared a Hanukkah message with the world in both Hebrew and English, concluding "May Hanukkah's lessons inspire us all to give thanks for the blessings we enjoy, to find light in times of darkness, and to work together for a brighter, more hopeful tomorrow." [via CBS]
• Have you seen this Hanukkah flash mob, which brought more than 150 people together on Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda street?
• This New York Times Op-Ed sheds an interesting light on both sides of the Hanukkah story.
• Check out this mouth-watering slide show of culinary delights that "gentile chefs" have created for their Jewish spouses. I'd like one of those apple-cider donuts or cheese danishes please.

This week Rabbi Marc Disick answers a question from a Jewish woman seeking advice about how to navigate Christmas celebrations with her Christian boyfriend. As always, respectful comments are welcome.

Q. Dear Rabbi, I'm a 31 year old Jewish woman who has been dating a Christian man for the past five months. Our religious differences have never been an issue but now that the holidays are here I am feeling conflicted. He has invited me to his family's house for a Christmas celebration, which would include going to church first and then meeting with everyone for dinner and general celebration. He has never asked me to convert to Christianity (and I wouldn't) but I know his family would be happier if I was Christian. What should I do? Is it OK for a Jewish woman who is happy being Jewish to celebrate Christmas?

A: Dear Conflicted,

This is not really about Christmas, this is about whether or not you are in a relationship that can grow through this important issue. I suggest that your conflict has less to do with Christmas and more to do with the fact that you and your partner haven't yet learned how to discuss interfaith issues as they arise. Once both of you together realize that you have a lot to learn, you will be able to approach the issue with wisdom and sensitivity. Your relationship is still very new. Once the two of you take on this conversation in a way which is both curious and respectful, you won't seem to feel quite so alone with this question. The two of really need to talk - he deserves to know how you feel.

Just as a couple needs to learn how to talk about money together, so too do interfaith couples need to learn to talk about the role religion plays in their lives -- and what role they hope it will play in their lives together going forward. While you may never feel comfortable celebrating Christmas, your discomfort will dramatically decrease if, over time, you and your partner come to agreements on this and a host of related issues.

To answer your question specificaIly, I think that how you celebrate this one Christmas together pales in comparison to whether or not the two of you embrace the next year as an opportunity to learn. You will learn a great deal about him if he genuinely wants to learn about Judaism. Things might need to get a little more serious between you before he'd be willing to take an Introduction to Judaism class. (Click here for classes offered by the Reform movement.) Hence, your question is less about the meaning of Christmas to your boyfriend and more about the meaning and importance of being Jewish to you.

Rabbi Marc Disick

Hanukkah begins tomorrow and with it Jews around the globe will be breaking out their family traditions. I'm curious: what are your traditions?

Since I work with children my hanukkah celebration is usually connected to what's happening in religious school. I spin the dreidel with the kids, enjoying their enthusiasm for the annual Dreidel Spin-Off, in which the best dreidel spinner in the school gets a little prize. I hand out gelt, sing Hanukkah songs and eat sufganiyot (jelly filled donuts). This year I'm also teaching a cooking class where adult students and I will be making beignets - a kind of fried French pastry - to celebrate the holiday. Fun!

At home, our Hanukkah is a bit more subdued. My husband and I light the hanukkiyah every night and exchange a gift (or buy something together). I'm curious to see how things change when we have children. Will we be a one gift kind of family, or a one gift for every night kind of family? Will we have a special dinner to commemorate the holiday? Only time will tell.

So what about you: how do you celebrate Hanukkah? Please share!

More About Hanukkah on About:

• History of Hanukkah
• What Is a Hanukkiyah?
• Origins of the Dreidel (And How to Play the Dreidel Game)
• Hanukkah Food Traditions

• Rabbi Marc Disick, one of our very own "Ask the Rabbi" rabbis, was recently featured in a PBS special. Click here to hear him talk about how God is what happens between people in a community.
• Mervis Diamond Importers has created the world's first diamond dreidel, which costs $1,800. [via Jewcy]
• A friend of mine, Leah Koenig, wrote a great article on the history of Chanukkah gelt for the Forward. Recipe included! [via Forward]
• Chelsea Clinton has confirmed that she's engaged to nice Jewish boy Marc Mezvinsky. Will she become a member of the tribe? [via NYT]
• It's offical: Tootsie rolls are now kosher. [via OU]
• In an article titled "The Rise of the Hot Jewish Girl," Details magazine outlines why Jewish women are the new fetish. "It seems that America can't get enough smoking-hot Semitic tush lately." Yikes.
• A leader of the pro-Palestinian al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade is suing comedian/actor Sasha Baron Cohen and NBC Universal for a scene in the recent Bruno movie that shows Cohen mocking an alleged leader of the group. With charges of libel and slander, the suit is for $110 million. [via Tablet]
• An Israeli alcohol importer has hired a pastry chef/bartender to create vodka-spiked sufganiyot this Chanukkah season. Each sufganiyah (Chanukkah donut) contains 90 milliliters of vodka diluted with jam. Definitely not for the kids table! [via Ynet]

Photo of sufganiyot by Ariela Pelaia / Recipe at Baking and Books