Chanukah
Hanukkah and the Soul

Hanukkah and the Soul

by Rabbi Avi Shafran
The Feminine Light: Chanukah’s Internal Power

The Feminine Light: Chanukah’s Internal Power
Chanukah: It's Greek to Me

Chanukah: It's Greek to Me
The Fascinating Numbers of Hanukkah

The Fascinating Numbers of Hanukkah
Star Wars and My Search for Spirituality

Star Wars and My Search for Spirituality
At My Grandson’s Bris: Hanukkah, Self-Sacrifice and the Infinite

Chief Editor's Blog

At My Grandson’s Bris: Hanukkah, Self-Sacrifice and the Infinite

by

The mohel instructed me to hold the baby’s legs tight, thrusting me into the reality of what was unfolding.

Hanukkah: Seeing Beyond the Surface

Hanukkah: Seeing Beyond the Surface

by

Why is Hanukkah called the holiday of vision?

Hanukkah & the Essence of True Beauty

Hanukkah & the Essence of True Beauty

by

Why did Judaism pose such a great threat to ancient Greece?

Hanukkah: The Holiday of Peace

Hanukkah: The Holiday of Peace

by Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider
Natalie Portman's Christmas Tree

Chief Editor's Blog

Natalie Portman's Christmas Tree

by

The actress's desire for a Christmas tree isn't trivial. It represents the contemporary Jew's struggle to hold onto her Jewish identity.

Holy Jewish Chutzpah

Holy Jewish Chutzpah

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When it comes to spirituality, never take no for an answer.

Three Lights: Hanukkah, Shabbat and Havdallah

Three Lights: Hanukkah, Shabbat and Havdallah

by

Understanding Judaism’s requirement to generate light on three different occasions.

Never Give Up Hope

Rabbi Benjamin Blech

Never Give Up Hope

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Why relight the menorah when reason dictated that a day later it would go dark once again?

Three Ways to Give Thanks this Hanukkah

Three Ways to Give Thanks this Hanukkah

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Hanukkah is a special time for us to say thank You for all the little and big miracles in our lives.

Thanksgivukkah

Rabbi Benjamin Blech

Thanksgivukkah

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The similarities – and essential differences – between Thanksgiving and Hanukkah.

Flames of Rebellion

Flames of Rebellion

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

Jews and War

Rabbi Benjamin Blech

Jews and War

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The Maccabees realized that there is a time to fight.

I Wanna Be a Maccabee

I Wanna Be a Maccabee

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Who are the heroes of Chanukah?

Let There Be Light

Let There Be Light

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Understanding the cultural clash between the Greeks and the Jews.

Assimilation & the Chanukah Oil

Rabbi Benjamin Blech

Assimilation & the Chanukah Oil

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

Matisyahu's 8 Chanukah Insights

Matisyahu's 8 Chanukah Insights

by and

Light up and be a hero.

The Beauty Wars

The Beauty Wars

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The Chanukah battle isn't over yet.

Miracle on Ice - Chanukah Edition

Miracle on Ice - Chanukah Edition

by

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

The Beauty and the Light

The Beauty and the Light

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

The Chanukah Question

The Chanukah Question

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Is it a Jewish value to yield or to resist?

Chanukah and Burnout

Rabbi Benjamin Blech

Chanukah and Burnout

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

The Miracle of Chanukah

The Miracle of Chanukah

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

Eight Ways to Banish the Darkness

Eight Ways to Banish the Darkness

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

Beauty and the Greeks

Beauty and the Greeks

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What was the underlying conflict between Jewish and Greek philosophy?

Tiger Woods and Chanukah

Rabbi Benjamin Blech

Tiger Woods and Chanukah

by

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

Taking Up Arms

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

The Nature of Nature

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What's the difference between nature and the miraculous?

Chanukah: Seeing in the Darkness

Chanukah: Seeing in the Darkness

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

Chanukah: The Prequel

Chanukah: The Prequel

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

Natural is Supernatural, Naturally

Natural is Supernatural, Naturally

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Miracles don't happen anymore, do they?

Spinning the Dreidel

Spinning the Dreidel

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

Soulless

Soulless

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

The Darkness that was Greece

The Darkness that was Greece

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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

Israel's Glory vs. Greek's Beauty

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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

Illuminating the Days of Darkness

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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

Kindling the Lights of Wisdom

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

Chanukah: To Conceal and Reveal

Chanukah: To Conceal and Reveal

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Nurturing the subtle, contradictory strivings for intimacy.

The Capture of Saddam: A Chanukah Meditation

The Capture of Saddam: A Chanukah Meditation

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Some surprising lessons are unearthed with Saddam Hussein.

Publicizing Miracles

Publicizing Miracles

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

Knowledge Vs. Wisdom

Knowledge Vs. Wisdom

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

Greece: The Dark Side

Greece: The Dark Side

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

Zeus and Greek Gods

Zeus and Greek Gods

by

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

Destruction of Joseph's Tomb: A Kabbalistic View

Destruction of Joseph's Tomb: A Kabbalistic View

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

Out of the Closet

Out of the Closet

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My mother, a Holocaust survivor, always said, "You can be a Jew on the inside, but not on the outside." It was just too risky.

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