Chanukah in Israel is truly something to behold. The words Chanukah
Sameach or Happy Chanukah can be found printed on food packages, store
windows, and even in pixilated letters on the front of buses. There is
generally a happy festive air about but it is the sufganiyah or the
jelly doughnut that really makes it worth being in this country on
this holiday.

It definitely seems to me that this greasy and delicious treat, has
gone more the way of the hamentashen, then say the rugelach. While the
rugelach can reach over the border of cinnamon and chocolate it
usually remains within those bounds. Rather, the sufganiyah and
hamentashen have more flavors that compliment their plain and
delicious batters while appealing to a greater spectrum of pallets.
Yet, I will venture to say that the sufganiyah has overtaken the
hamentashen and entered the 21st century in style. It is a vixen.

Dulche de leche—must I say more? Yes dear readers you saw it here…
dulche de leche sufganiyot. ( And just when you thought you couldn’t
eat another one you pass another shop window with another magnificent
display of lightly powdered doughnuts and you remember that Chanukah
comes once a year and there might just be a bit more room in your
belly or in your newly developed love handles. )

Much like how the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade ends with the Santa
float I saw Chanukah approaching from a meter away. My local macolet
or mini-mart started selling sufganiyot at the start of November. I
valiantly resisted the urge and decided to wait until the holiday
truly began. I can’t say it was a sound decision because one week
prior to the start of the holiday the parties began and doughnuts of
every quality were being offered hand over fist. It was then that my
virtuous self-control ended and I was left to my own abandon. As I
hinted to before, the holiday only comes once a year and I’ve heard
that once it ends so too do the sufganiyot. Do you think that it’s a
coincidence that Tu Bishvat, the New Year of the Trees, is what is up
at bat and the shops will be flooded instead with dried fruit? While I
love dried fruit, I think it may still be a sad and rude awakening.
Chag sameach.