1st Day of Hanukkah | Candle #2 Tonight View Hanukkah Schedule This week, Rabbi Ron Stern shares some Hanukkah meditations to get you in the spirit of the festival of lights. As we reflect on the meaning of light, and our power to bring it into the world, we invite you to increase the light this Hanukkah with our Center for Tikkun Olam Hanukkah Give Back Guide. "Sivivon sov sov sov....Hanukkah hu chag tov!" (“Spin the dreidel, spin spin spin, Hanukkah’s a good holiday!”) say the words of the holiday ditty. Of all the associated holiday observances, why would our ancestors have chosen a game of chance and gambling to while away the eight days? Perhaps to remind us that so much of life as all about luck. That’s not to say that we have no control over our fate—of course we do. Effort and hard work do provide their rewards. However, [...]

Chag urim sameach! Tonight: Candle #1 View Hanukkah Schedule This week, Rabbi Ron Stern shares some Hanukkah meditations to get you in the spirit of the festival of lights.  As we reflect on the meaning of light, and our power to bring it into the world, we invite you to increase the light this Hanukkah with our Center for Tikkun Olam Hanukkah Give Back Guide. There’s a special prayer for Hanukkah recited during its eight days. It includes these words: “You delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the unclean into the hands of the pure, the evil into the hands of the righteous, and the arrogant into the hands of those who engage in Your Torah.” It begs an intriguing question: “Once they are delivered into our hands, what do we do with those who are now under our control?”  [...]

This week, Rabbi Ron Stern shares some Hanukkah meditations to get you in the spirit of the festival of lights. As we reflect on the meaning of light, and our power to bring it into the world, we invite you to increase the light this Hanukkah with our Center for Tikkun Olam Hanukkah Give Back Guide. Gelt wasn’t always that foil covered wafer of chocolate that is the ubiquitous symbol of Hanukkah. In its earliest incarnation gelt was really gelt—coins placed in the hands of the recipient. It was the means for the performance of the essential mitzvah of the holiday. Centuries ago, the rabbis declared that every person, rich or poor must light the lights and celebrate the Maccabees’ victory. But when the struggle of so many was merely to put food on their plates, candles, oil, wicks, even the Hanukkiah itself was beyond reach. So, the poor were invited [...]

Rabbi Ron Stern shares some Hanukkah meditations to get you in the spirit of the festival of lights. As we reflect on the meaning of light, and our power to bring it into the world, we invite you to increase the light this Hanukkah with our Center for Tikkun Olam Hanukkah Give Back Guide.​​​​​​ While the story of Hanukkah in its simplest form pits the evil Greeks against the virtuous Jews, historians tell us that actually it was far more complicated. The practices of the Greeks were brought into Jerusalem by Hellenizing Jews who sought wealth and power by allying themselves with the powerful nation. Their lust for control led them to justify their disruptive and destructive violations of Jewish standards and ignore the hypocrisy of their sacrilegious practices. Our heroes, the Maccabees, opposed the heretical assimilation embraced by the Hellenizers.  It was a tough uphill battle. All the advantage was [...]