Hanukkah | The Blogs

Apply for a Blog

Mar 29, 2024, 4:26 PM

A giant Cup of Elijah is a tradition we need in this time of crisis

Cup of Elijah City Scene (Credit: D Seldowitz. Image generated using AI at playground.com).

Fifty years ago, following the Yom Kippur War, the public menorah emerged as a powerful symbol of Jewish resilience. This Chabad innovation wasn't just a beautiful display; perhaps inadvertently, in the present moment, it has become a litmus test...

Mar 22, 2024, 2:31 PM

US Jewry can look to Esther as a role model

Dr. Mijal Bitton, 'Never Again Is Now' speech at NYU rally in Washington Square Park, October 26, 2023. (YouTube, screenshot)

America is not Haman's Shushan, with its decree against the Jewish people, but that doesn't mean there's no assault on Jews and Judaism

Laura Conrad Mandel

Feb 21, 2024, 8:55 AM

Neta Elkayam: Singing the Moroccan Jewish Story

A colleague messaged me the other day: “do you know Neta Elkayam? She’s wildly talented, in the US this season, and not like anything else here.” I immediately said, “yes, yes, and yes!” I met Neta in 2020, peak pandemic...

Jan 15, 2024, 10:38 PM

Saving Lives on the Frontline in Ukraine

The sound of artillery rumbled like thunder and the windows that were not boarded up rattled occasionally from the shockwaves. But in a small medical clinic in the Donbas region of Ukraine, no one seemed to notice as a...

Lisa M. Pollack

Jan 1, 2024, 10:59 PM

Neve Hanna: The School Year 2022-2023 In Review

Neve Hanna Children's Home. Photo: Lisa Pollack

American Friends of Neve Hanna is grateful for the love and support of our friends and community. We take a look back on the year 2022-2023, an incredible time of growth, challenges and impact at Neve Hanna Children’s Home...

William Echikson

Dec 27, 2023, 2:34 PM

Light amid the darkness in troubled Belgium

As war rages in the Mideast and antisemitism rises in Belgium, a much-needed, rare layer of light spreads over the International Jewish Center’s Brussels synagogue: Muslim, Catholic, and Jewish leaders gather together to light Hanukkah candles. The celebration is part...

Dec 26, 2023, 9:02 PM

Standing Together is the Only Thing that Keeps Us from Falling Apart

Photo by 2023 Leonard Bryant Photography at Chabad of Palm Beach Gardens: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=741045358051757&set=a.741046071385019

Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much! Why is it that we feel personally insulted by the recent debacle of the ivy league school presidents congressional hearing? If you don’t have a family member in...

Dec 20, 2023, 12:01 PM

“Can we pray for a miracle?” Parashat Vayigash 5784

One of the key pieces of my obligatory Shabbat reading is the weekly lesson from Rabbi Asher Weiss. Rabbi Weiss came on aliya from the US as a youth. A Hasid from the Sanz-Klausenburg sect, he dresses in Hasidic...

Yaacov Yisroel Bar Chaiim

Dec 19, 2023, 2:33 PM

The Questionable Faith of our Thought Leaders

Some weeks ago, there was a US congressional hearing of three Ivy League university presidents about their free-speech policies. At the peak, each of these supposed thought leaders were asked a very simple question: If there would be an...

Dec 19, 2023, 12:11 AM

My Hanukkah break

(courtesy)

My husband and I snuck out on an El Al flight to spend 10 days in Europe. My sons were not coming here. We needed to see them; they needed to see we were safe. Our Hanukkah candles, this...

Load more