An all new essay from Tod in the Los Angeles Times:

My Hanukkah menorah is broken. My wife tells me there’s a piece missing, a branch that is supposed to go from the Star of David in the center of the candelabra to a slot on the back to hold the shamus — the candle used to light all the others. It’s been broken for 50 years or so, by my estimation, since I can’t recall it ever looking any different than it does now. Still, we don’t want to burn the house down, so we placed it on a shelf where I can still see it and swapped in a slick new menorah that looks like a piece of modern art: brushed chrome, smooth lines. It’s important to create new traditions.

Read the rest here.