By Aissah W-B., Senior Writer and Aila V., Writer/Reporter
Illustration by Zoe C.
It all started on November 27th, 2021, or the day before Hanukkah when my sister Naomi kept bugging me on the bus ride home from school. She couldn’t stay quiet about some slime that she made in school. She played with it and then got it on my favorite shirt! She is as messy as an infant but is almost ten years old. I was furious when we got home, to the point that I yelled at Naomi.
My mom said “Noam! Don’t talk to your sister like that!”
I whined, “But mom, it was her fault! She got it on me first!”
My mom didn't hesitate to just send us to our rooms.
The next day was the first night of Hanukkah. My sister woke me up insanely early by jumping on my bed singing “Hanukkah o Hanukkah Light the Menorah. Let's have a party and we will all dance the hora,” over and over and over again!!
All day at school the song was stuck in my head and I couldn't get it out! When we got home my mom said, “NOAM! NAOMI! Pack for your Bubbeh's! We are going there for Hanukkah.” Bubbeh means grandmother in Hebrew. We started packing but I wanted to get back to my sister so I stole her shirts from her luggage and put them back in her drawer. I was so eager for revenge.
Once we got to Bubbeh’s, Naomi unpacked her luggage only to realize that she didn’t have any shirts. That's when I heard furious footsteps approaching my room. It turns out it was Naomi shouting “NOAM I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW CRUEL YOU COULD BE! HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF I DID THAT TO YOU?”
I replied with “But you do things like that to me. My favorite shirt got ruined because you couldn't control yourself and your ridiculous little slime.”
That's when Bubbeh walked in and said “Hey, hey, hey! What is all this ruckus?”
Naomi started tattle-telling on me. Making it seem like it is all MY fault. Bubbeh said “Hanukkah is a time for joy and family and one component to family includes loving them. My sister and I would always fight on Hanukkah about the littlest things when there was so much more to worry about than who took the last brisket. When she passed away I regretted every second of that silliness between us. You should love your siblings not only on Hanukkah but every day so that you have no regrets in living the way you did.”
These words were so impactful to my sister that she gave me a hug as tears came out of her eyes saying “I love you, Noam! Thank you for being the best brother ever and Happy Hanukkah.”
Hanukkah since then has never been the same, no fighting, no stealing, no arguing, just happy happy memories. It wasn’t only on Hanukkah where we stopped fighting, it was our everyday life, too. We started to care more about each other more than ever!
THE END
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