Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah, the festival of lights. The eight-day holiday commemorates a series of miracles that happened more than 2,000 years ago. During the second century B.C., the Maccabees, a tiny Jewish militia, rose up against the Syrian-Greek regime that had been oppressing the Jewish people and had outlawed the practice of their religion. After the Maccabee victory, the Jews sought to restore their temple in Jerusalem, which had been destroyed. But they feared they wouldn’t even have enough oil to light up the holy site. Miraculously, the little bit of oil that was left lasted eight nights. So today, we celebrate Hanukkah with oil. Yes, cannabis oil, included.
Each of the eight nights of Hanukkah, you light a candle on the menorah, and celebrate with food and a game of dreidel (a game in which you spin a four-sided top and gamble for gelt, or chocolate money). Traditionally, you eat oily foods like latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) on Hanukkah to represent the oil that lit up the temple.
To get lit for Hanukkah, make your latkes and sufganiyot with cannabis oil. For the latkes, as you would with other savory recipes, either buy a ready-made infused olive oil, or make your own. For every cup of oil, you’ll want about a cup of cannabis flower. Combine the oil and the weed in a slow cooker and heat them up together for a few hours at no more than 245 degrees Fahrenheit. As for the sufganiyot, you can be a bit more creative about which ingredients you want to infuse with cannabis. You could for instance use cannabutter, medicated powdered sugar, or infuse the jelly, custard, or chocolate filling. And if you’re feeling lazy, simply use a dropper to add cannabis tincture to whichever part of the doughnut you want infused.
Edibles aren’t the only way to celebrate “chronica.” Spark your joint on the menorah. Or better yet, if you’re going for photo opp, stack your joints in the menorah, instead of candles.
If you’re playing a game of dreidel, try gambling with ganj as gelt. So as not to get too high (you are gambling for the entire pot after all), try CBD chocolates instead of those with higher doses of THC.
Or simply, you could just get high and celebrate. In the dead of winter, Hanukkah is after all a time to get lit and be merry.
