My little, immediate family has been carrying on a tradition, of sorts, annually around Chanukah. My wife collects candles from various locations and as remembrances of our travels. Since Chanukah is “The Festival of Lights” and celebrates the miracle of a single cruse of oil lasting 8 days when it seemed as if it would only last one, we use the candles (and a menorah) like ornaments; we place the entire collection of candles on the mantle of our fireplace. Like the decorating of a Christmas tree, we take candles out of the storage bin, one-by-one, and recall the story of the candle: When did we get it? Where did we get it from? What was going on in our lives at that moment? etc.

When we finished placing the candles this year, I took a picture and shared it on Twitter.

A couple of hours later, while we were in the Chanukah spirit, I shared another picture, this one of my son with some friends of his from 8 years ago. I love this picture for so many reasons, including how it portrays my own feelings of being the “lonely Jew” around this time of year.

You’ll notice that Aviva Dunsiger, a 1st grade teacher in Ontario (Hamilton, to be more exact) saw the 2nd picture I posted and declared it perfect for “Math Talk Mondays.” I didn’t know what she meant by it, but it sounded fun… Also, you’ll notice that Aviva then saw the 1st picture I posted and decided that it, too, would make for a good image for Math Talk Mondays.

The next day, I discovered what “Math Talk Mondays” is. Aviva captured it, and shared it back out via Twitter.

Read the full details (and Aviva’s comment) on Jon’s blog.