Chanukah begins on Sunday night (Dec 2, 2018) so here is a little historical introduction to the Chanukah festival, to which we will hopefully add some spiritual insights in the coming weeks. Approximately 200 years before the events of Chanukah, hundreds of thousands of Jews returned from the Babylonian exile to the Land of Israel. …
Question: The Chanuka miracle: A flask with one night’s oil burned for 8 nights. But being that there was oil for one night, the miracle actually lasted only 7 nights. So why is Chanuka 8 nights? AskTheRabbi.org answered: Good question! I’ll give you 8 reasons. They divided one night’s oil into eight portions. Miraculously, each…
Chanukah is a celebration of the miracle of Jewish spiritual survival. After millennia of attempts to assimilate us, whether through force or persuasion, we are still here. But, it is not mere physical survival that we celebrate. After all, the genes of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians and Greeks have also physically survived. The miracle…
The Sages instituted several laws regarding the lighting of the menorah. Harry Rothenberg explains that each of them is filled with meaning. View this video directly on VIMEO
The idea that any one people could be “chosen” or have a Divine revelation was completely contrary to Greek belief. Their campaign against Judaism and the Jews did not focus on physical extermination, but rather attempted to eradicate the Jews as a special people. One example of this effort was the Emperor Ptolemy’s translation of…
Chanukah starts in about a week and a half, and without doubt it is one of the most popular of our festivals amongst Jews in general, even if not observant. A lot of people identify with Chanuka, and there is a lot of misunderstanding of its significance. Chanuka marks a clash of cultures – Judaism…
Setting the Scene Israel: Approximately 200 years before the events of Chanukah, hundreds of thousands of Jews returned from the Babylonian exile to the Land of Israel. In time, they rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem and established an independent Jewish monarchy. Greece: After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, the Greek-Macedonian Empire…
Rabbi Becher discusses Jewish Independence, Chanukah and the Dreidel. View this video directly on Vimeo.
We just celebrated the beginning of the Jewish month of Kislev, the month in which Chanukah falls. This will be the first of a number of articles about the upcoming festival. First we will set the opening scenes of this epic encounter of Jewish history. Israel: Approximately 200 years before the events of Chanukah, hundreds…