Hanukkah

Apply for a Blog

Sheldon Paul Stone

Jan 14, 2025, 6:45 PM

The Great Chanukah Polemic of 1891– Relevant Today?

Hayyim Zelig Slonimski aged seventy-five. From The Jewish Encyclopedia, New York, Funk and Wagnalls, 1912.

If, as the polemic suggests, the Rabbis invented the miracle of the oil lasting 8 days, was this to avoid glorifying military might and tell a cautionary tale against internal division and misuse of Jewish power? Criticism from kids...

Jan 7, 2025, 9:06 PM

Shining our Light Upon the Nations

Our Destiny is Not Written For Us—But By Us We Jews have a special appreciation for drinks of different kinds. Every Jewish holiday has a unique liquid with which we celebrate it: On Rosh Hashana, honey; on Purim, alcohol. On Pesach, it’s wine,...

Jan 3, 2025, 5:27 PM

Finding Light in the Darkness

It is not as easy to make the journey to Israel from America these days. As most airlines have stopped flying to and from Israel because of the war, one has to undertake a degree of creativity in planning...

Jan 3, 2025, 12:58 PM

Lighting the Way in a Polarized World

Frans Timmermans (PVDA-Groen Links) speaking at the Chanukah Celebration at the Dutch House of Representatives in The Hague, Netherlands.

Ladies and gentlemen, excellencies, In 1944, at Bergen-Belsen, Abel Herzberg and the later Chief Rabbi of Amsterdam, Aaron Schuster, stood near the barbed wire and watched as corpses were unloaded from trucks and piled up. Abel Herzberg turned to his...

Ronnie Katz Gerber

Jan 2, 2025, 10:33 PM

Running Towards the New Year

Photo courtesy of the author.

I just put away dinner service for fifteen: knives, forks, napkins, salad, dessert and dinner plates. Every goblet and wine glass. All the pitchers and wine bottles. What a holiday celebration! The cheese platters and the cheeses. The fruit...

Raheli Baratz Rix

Jan 2, 2025, 10:17 PM

Hanukkah Under Fire: Global Wave of Hate -No Light

From Britain to Ukraine: Ten antisemitic incidents in one week paint a concerning picture of global Jewish hatred | Menorahs vandalized, worshippers attacked, and a synagogue hit with a Molotov cocktail | "This is a violation of basic human...

Jan 2, 2025, 11:21 AM

Home for Chanuka

On Chanuka we celebrate the victory of the Jewish army lead by the heroic Chashmona’im over the Greek invaders. This military victory was accompanied by a religious revival marked by the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. We mark these...

Jan 1, 2025, 11:00 PM

Watching Fiddler on the Roof with Antisemitism on My Mind

Fiddler on the Roof on Christmas Day. Great idea. Connecting to my traditions on a day when everything closes for other people’s traditions. I bought tickets as soon as possible. When I taught Hebrew school, I showed the movie to...

Rivy Poupko Kletenik

Jan 1, 2025, 10:51 PM

Light, Dark and Blind Spots

Tonight, the last day of Chanukah traditionally is referred to as Zot Chanukah – this is Chanukah. The name simply comes from the first words of Torah reading for the last day of Chanukah, from Numbers 7:84, “Zot Chanukat...

Jan 1, 2025, 10:28 PM

What Hannukah teaches about commitment and openness

Hanukkah is, perhaps, the easiest Jewish holiday to celebrate. There are no restrictions on what one may or may not do—no fasting and, in fact, no prohibitions except one: the lights of Hanukkah must not be used for any...

Load more