grandmother had brought with her to America . But if her father did not want her to use it , he must have a good reason .
Rachel decided she would concentrate on making latkes instead . She watched carefully in Hebrew school when Mrs . Rosenblum showed the class how to make the batter . She remembered watching her mother follow the very same steps each Hanukkah .
Those times had always been very special .
Cooking was fun , but even better was listening to her mother tell wonderful stories about her own childhood .
Without fail , Sammy would ruin it by barging into the kitchen and demanding his turn to stir . The lovely calm would turn to chaos . It seemed that all Sammy had to do was look at the bowl , and batter splattered from ceiling to floor .
But Rachel ’ s mother ’ s latkes were always scrumptious . She was not certain her own potato pancakes could match up , but she was determined to try .
The afternoon before the first night of Hanukkah , Rachel stopped by Weintraub ’ s grocery for a bag of potatoes , but she couldn ’ t find a single one . The bin was empty .
Rachel began to cry .
“ Rachel !” exclaimed Mr . Weintraub . “ Don ’ t be silly . Who cries over potatoes ? I ’ ll have more tomorrow . Buy rice instead .”
“ You can ’ t make latkes from rice , Mr . Weintraub ,” Rachel sobbed .
“ You have a point ,” he agreed . “ Wait here . I ’ ll see what I can do .” He disappeared into his back room . Mr . Weintraub returned a minute later , holding a very odd-looking potato .
“ It isn ’ t much ,” he admitted . “ All of my shoppers kept throwing it back into the bin . It ’ s not rotten . It just looks funny . I suppose one potato won ’ t make a lot of latkes , but it ’ s the best I can do . Take it with my compliments .”
Rachel studied the curious potato for a moment and suddenly screamed with delight .
“ Oh , Mr . Weintraub ! Thank you ! Thank you ! This is perfect . It ’ s just right . Thank you a million times .”
As Rachel rushed out of the store , Mr . Weintraub just shook his head and smiled . Sammy greeted his older sister as she walked through the door . “ Where have you been ? What ’ s in the bag ?”
“ I was at the grocer ’ s to buy potatoes ,” she answered .
Sammy grinned and squealed , “ Oh great ! We ’ ll make latkes — just like old times .”
He grabbed the bag from his sister ’ s hand , and the odd potato fell to the floor . Sammy made a face . “ Oh , gross !” he exclaimed . “ Cancel the latkes .”
Rachel smiled . “ Don ’ t worry , Kid . You ’ re not eating latkes , tonight . I ’ m saving this potato for something more important .”
Sammy looked puzzled . “ Oh , yeah ?
What ?“ “ Come into the kitchen and you ’ ll see .” Sammy followed Rachel to the sink and watched her carefully scrub and dry the mysterious potato . “ So now what ?” He asked . Rachel could no longer contain her excitement .
“ Don ’ t you see , Sammy ? It ’ s perfect . For some reason , Daddy doesn ’ t want to use our beautiful menorah , and I don ’ t have money to buy a new one . Until this afternoon , I had completely given up on lighting candles , but when I saw this potato , I remembered a story Mommy
Holiday 2020 BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE // 35