by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 19, 2022 | Chanukah, Daniel, Messiah
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz Every Jew knows the basis for our system of holidays: They came and tried to kill us. They failed and disappeared in the sands of time. We’re still around. Let’s eat. Indeed, Jacob’s dream of angels ascending and descending a ladder to heaven...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 5, 2022 | Antisemitism, Psalms, Chosen Nation, Chanukah, God, Prayer, Tests and Trials
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz Hanukkah is quickly approaching and I am reminded of a joke my father, of blessed memory, used to tell every year after lighting the candles. With the doughnuts and potato pancakes arranged on the table and waiting to be eaten, my dad would...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 6, 2021 | Chanukah, Vayechi, Israel, Temple
The Hanukkah story is clearly one of conflict, pitting the underdog Judeans against the powerful Seleucids and King Antiochus IV. The Judeans were also up against their Hellenized brethren who actively sought to end the Temple service and the observance of the Torah’s...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 3, 2021 | Chanukah, Haggai, Redemption, Temple
The Book of Maccabees is a collection of four volumes that recount the history of the Maccabees, the leaders of the Jewish rebellion against the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, and the Seleucid dynasty. They do not appear in the Jewish canon of the Tanakh (i.e....
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 2, 2021 | Kings, Chanukah, Temple
Hanukkah is a historical holiday that is not mentioned in the Bible. Its name means ‘dedication,’ and it commemorates the eight-day rededication of the Second Temple by the Hasmoneans that took place at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 30, 2021 | Kislev, Tetzaveh, Chanukah, Temple
The holiday of Hanukkah is most famously identified with the story of the miracle of the single cruse of pure olive oil that burned for eight days. The story of Hanukkah does not appear in the Bible but it is told in the Talmud (Shabbat 21b). The story begins in...
