As the years pass, memories accrue, and I enjoy strolling down that lane from time to time—but sometimes… there are gaps. More often than not, I blame it on my deteriorating brain cells, but when it comes to Hanukkah and the Catskills, the gaps are more like a chasm.

Back in the day, when the region was often referred to as “The Borscht Belt,” we would occasionally pile into the car and make our way to the mountains to gather with friends and family in one of the many resorts that dotted the landscape. Also known colloquially as “The Jewish Alps,” the area became famous as a vacation destination for Jewish city dwellers beginning in the 1920s, enjoying decades of popularity, followed by a growing descent in the 1970s, due in part to the reduced cost of airplane travel, which opened up a new world of possibilities for the middle class.

Throughout my childhood and its 1960s heyday, the list of resorts was long, and my parents checked into many, including The Raleigh, Kutsher’s, Browns Hotel, The Tamarack, The Nevele, Silverman’s and my mother’s personal favorites: Grossinger’s and The Concord. Sullivan County (which my father called “Solomon County”) is often what springs to mind, but there were also resorts in Orange, Ulster and across the river in The Poconos—although there, as in the Catskills, only a few of the originals remain.

I remember spending some holidays in those playgrounds, but Chanukah isn’t one of them, and as the “Festival of Lights” approaches early this year (beginning on December 7), I checked into my personal memory bank and came up short. Wondering if it was just me, I placed a few calls to other family members who concurred. “No, I don’t remember lighting the menorah in the Catskills,” one of my cousins mused, “but we did go skiing on occasion.” I wasn’t sports-minded then (or now, for that matter) so that didn’t ring any bells, and when I do conjure up pictures of those resorts in my mind, they are of summer, with no snow in sight.

Truth be told, I don’t even remember how to spell it most days—“Chanukah or Hanukkah?” I asked “The Google” (as mom would say). “What’s the difference? Is there one?” Chanukah, oddly enough, is the “second most often used spelling,” The Google informed me, “and the favorite of traditionalists,” but today’s standard, Hanukkah, became popular “due to the Ch sound being similar to the H sound, making Hanukkah a bit easier for English speakers to understand the pronunciation.” Okay then, one mystery solved. As for no dreidels (a four-sided spinning top played with during Hanukkah) being spun in the Catskills during my youth, I continued to delve.

Deciding to check in with Sullivan County Historian John Conway seemed like a good idea, but even he came up empty-handed. “I don’t recall ever seeing anything specifically about the holiday,” he responded, “but there is a book, ‘A Kosher Christmas,’ which quotes a number of Jewish hotel people, including Elaine Grossinger Etess, talking about celebrating at that hotel. Are you familiar with that?” he asked. I found the book, but although the Foreword contained the word “Christmas” nine times, Hanukkah is not mentioned even once. Back to square one. “Okay, Google” I spoke aloud to my “smart phone” (sic) “tell me more. Why wasn’t there more of a hoopla over Chanukah (argh!) in the Borscht belt during the 1960s?”

“It’s a very minor holiday, and is only observed as a major one in Christian communities so that our children also have a December celebration” was Google’s somewhat snotty response. “Hanukkah [Oy!] became more widely celebrated beginning in the 1970s [now we’re getting somewhere] when Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson [say that three times fast!] called for public awareness and observance of the festival, encouraging the lighting of public menorahs.” I was a bit relieved to discover that it’s not just me, as the Internet site reiterated that the “popularization of Hanukkah by some of the American Jewish community was encouraged as a way to adapt to American life, because they could celebrate a holiday which occurs around the same time as Christmas.”

As a result of my research, I discovered not only 16 spelling variations, including Hanukah, Hannukkah, Channukka, Xanuka (really?) and Chanuq, of all things, but also that many celebrations will be taking place throughout the region. A quick search at www.nehiva.org will yield schedules of Hanukah (just spell it any way you like) in Sullivan County and www.jewishnepa.org serves the same purpose in surrounding counties across the river in PA. I think I’ll save up some “gelt” (those gold-foil chocolaty coins that we see at this time of year), gas up the truck and check out a few in the next week or so. Maybe I’ll learn something new.