Do you like my party hat?

Silly Hat Day. Crazy Tie Day. Wear something Blue, or Red or Purple or Orange Day. Each of these are special events that are created in school to promote spirit and comradery. I'm kind of pareve when it comes to these 'special days'. I ususally forget about them until it's too late, and then run around my place frantically scrambling at the last minute to find the hat or tie or something borrowed or something blue to wear to work. All these days do nothing for me, except one. I like Backwards Day.

The whole concept of Backwards Day tickles me. I like the idea of wearing clothes backwards. In truth, the overall effect looks really cute but becomes very uncomfortable very fast. But for those first few minutes, seeing heads on backwards and literally not knowing if someone is coming or going is fabulously comical. Of course, Backwards Day in the true sense never happens, for if it were to be celebrated to its full and proper extent, at the sound of the first bell I'd be saying 'sayonara' and heading home.

Maybe I like Backwards Day because I enjoy reading newspapers and magazines backwards. I like starting at the last page of a section and working my way forward. I have no idea why I do this, I just do. I flip over the particular newspaper section and begin...or end.

Backward and forward thinking is illuminated at Chanukah with the correct procedure for lighting the Chanukiah, the Chanukah menora. The great yeshivas of Hillel and Shammai argued over which way the candles should be lit. In Tractate Shabbat of the Talmud, Shammai proposes that the candles be lit in reverse order, backwards shall we say, to what we do today. Essentially and for a variety of reasons, he felt that on the first night of Chanukah, eight candles should be lit; on the seventh night, seven and so on and so forth. Hillel, on the other hand, felt that the candles should be lit in ascending order. Although Shammai made a lot of sense, after much argument, Hillel's reasoning prevailed, which is why we light the candles in the manner that we do to this very day.

When I light my Chanukah candles, I am made aware that Hillel wanted us to live our lives facing forward. I think he knew that it's too easy to look backward, to get mired in the past. There is no question that we must not forget history, but once we learn from the past, we need to take those lessons and move toward the future.

As the miracle of the oil grows each night before our eyes, it becomes evident that it is indeed important to glance behind our shoulder to know where we've come from, but it is essential to face forward in order to see the miracles that await us.

Is that enough to convince me enough to read the newspaper from front to back? Not sure.But if I do, I think I'll simply begin to think of it as forward thinking.