Let’s talk about the phenomenon of Super Bowl Sunday.

A football game is the impetus behind the near equivalent of a national holiday. I cannot think of another example of this feat.

Baseball is our national pastime. Every fall there is a champion series. Baseball fans watch. Hometown fans watch. Non-fans might watch if they’re in the right place with the right people. Personally, I’d rather watch paint dry. (I watch basketball and only basketball.) If I’m flipping through stations, I’m not stopping on the World Series.

But the Super Bowl is a different story. There are parties. There is food. There’s the half-time show. There are the 30-second ads, each costing $6.5 million. I go to parties and hang out at the buffet table waiting to be called in to the television room for the commercials.

There’s a lesson here somewhere. More than 100 million people celebrate Super Bowl Sunday and understanding or even liking football is not a requirement. We’ve got to figure out the secret and then apply it to Jewish life somehow. Maybe we should get a Super Bowl ad?

Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. I’ll be with the wings.

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