Deeper Themes

Jews and War

by Rabbi Benjamin Blech

The Maccabees realized that there is a time to fight.

I Wanna Be a Maccabee

by Sara Yoheved Rigler

Who are the heroes of Chanukah?

Let There Be Light

by Rabbi Joel Padowitz

Understanding the cultural clash between the Greeks and the Jews.

Assimilation & the Chanukah Oil

by Rabbi Benjamin Blech

Understanding the meaning of the Chanukah battle, a war unlike any other.

Matisyahu's 8 Chanukah Insights

by Matisyahu and Ephraim Rosenstein

Light up and be a hero.

The Beauty Wars

by Sara Yoheved Rigler

The Chanukah battle isn't over yet.

Miracle on Ice - Chanukah Edition

by Rabbi Yechezkel Freundlich

The Jewish definition of “miraculous” is different from Merriam-Webster.

The Beauty and the Light

by Dina Coopersmith

The Greeks enlightened the world with art, philosophy and science. So why does Torah associate the Greeks with forces of darkness?

The Chanukah Question

by Sara Yoheved Rigler

Is it a Jewish value to yield or to resist?

Chanukah and Burnout

by Rabbi Benjamin Blech

Why didn't God simply give the Jews an eight-day supply of oil?

The Miracle of Chanukah

by Lawrence Kelemen

The military victory and the burning oil provide a deep lesson in self-discovery.

Eight Ways to Banish the Darkness

by Dr. Simcha Shapiro

Chanukah's eight powerful tools for bringing some light into the darkness.

Out of the Closet

by Debbie Hirschmann

My mother the Holocaust survivor said: "Be a Jew on the inside, but not the outside." It's too risky.

Beauty and the Greeks

by Rabbi Doniel Baron

What was the underlying conflict between Jewish and Greek philosophy?

Tiger Woods and Chanukah

by Rabbi Benjamin Blech

Is a beautiful golf swing enough to make you a hero?

Taking Up Arms

by Chana Graj

What you and I today would have written off as an act of insanity, was in fact one of the greatest deeds in Jewish history.

The Nature of Nature

by Rabbi Avi Shafran

What's the difference between nature and the miraculous?

Chanukah: Seeing in the Darkness

by Sherri Lederman Mandell

Chanukah and the murder of my son taught me a new way of seeing.

Chanukah: The Prequel

by Rabbi Doniel Baron

The astonishing connection between Alexander the Great and the Jewish high priest.

Natural is Supernatural, Naturally

by Rabbi Baruch Beyer

Miracles don't happen anymore, do they?

Spinning the Dreidel

by Rabbi Eytan Feiner

The discrepancy in how the Chanukah dreidel and Purim gragger are spun reflect a profound lesson in the nature of the two holidays.

Soulless

by Rabbi Avi Shafran

The Greeks thought that physicality was a primary goal of man.

The Darkness that was Greece

by Rabbi Ahron Lopiansky

The world of Greece was defined by beauty and philosophy, which many Jews admired. Yet in the end, there had to be a fight to the finish between the two ways of life. Why?

Israel's Glory vs. Greek's Beauty

by Rabbi Ahron Lopiansky

The Greeks restricted the world to physical beauty while the Jews opened the eyes of the world to the spiritual glory that lies deep within.

Illuminating the Days of Darkness

by Rabbi Yonason Goldson

The Greeks fought to uproot the Torah, the spiritual compass that kept the Jewish people pointed toward light through the dark exile.

Kindling the Lights of Wisdom

by Rabbi Yonason Goldson

The danger of religion does not lie in religious fervor, but in religious uncertainty.

Chanukah: To Conceal and Reveal

by Rabbi Yehuda Krohn, Psy.D.

Nurturing the subtle, contradictory strivings for intimacy.

The Capture of Saddam: A Chanukah Meditation

by Sara Yoheved Rigler

Some surprising lessons are unearthed with Saddam Hussein.

Publicizing Miracles

by Rabbi Shraga Simmons

When we light Chanukah lights, we help each other remember God's miracles and kindnesses.

Knowledge Vs. Wisdom

by Rabbi Shraga Simmons

The secret of why the Greek empire didn't survive more than a few hundred years.

Greece: The Dark Side

by Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf

Comparing the Greek exile to the darkness at the beginning of creation.

Zeus and Greek Gods

by Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf

Tthe Greeks took their gods as seriously as we take the stock market.

Destruction of Joseph's Tomb: A Kabbalistic View

by Rabbi Pinchas Winston

Shechem -- where Joseph was sold into slavery and later buried -- is where redemption will begin with acts of estruction.

» Deeper Themes

Lighting Hanukkah candles is a brave act in the Maccabean tradition.

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