There’s something special about having a holiday whose name literally means “dedication” falling right around the secular new year. While Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, many embrace the secular new year as an opportunity for resolutions and fresh starts. This year, rather than considering new year's resolutions, I am thinking about personal Hanukkah rededications as a way to reflect and look ahead.This started for me two weeks ago when my rabbinical school classmates and I gathered together for a latke “fry-off”. We scheduled it weeks in advance to accommodate everyone’s busy schedules and took a pause from our final papers to fry up the best latkes we could muster. We ended up with nine different types of latkes (classic, pickle, curry, onion ring, and a few more!) and a night of beautiful togetherness. While we see each other regularly in class, this was somehow the first [...]

To someone who doesn’t pay attention to the Hebrew calendar, Hanukkah falling right around Christmas may not seem particularly abnormal. To others, it may feel like Hanukkah is extremely late this year. Regardless, Hanukkah always arrives on time on the Hebrew calendar—on the 25th of Kislev.Personally, I love that Hanukkah this year falls after the Winter Solstice because it means that we are truly increasing our light each day of Hanukkah as we add another candle.Rabbi Dalia Marx, in her book From Time to Time, teaches:The two systems for lighting Hanukkah lights represent different worldviews...According to Shammai, the world was created whole and perfect, and ever since then, "the generations are successively diminished." Following this approach, human beings are born with their full potential, with all their lives ahead to achieve it, but each passing day brings them closer to the end and serves as a depressing reminder of what they [...]

This year, in preparation for Hanukkah, I have been embracing the song Banu Choshech Legaresh, meaning “We Came to Expel the Darkness”. Written by Sarah Levi-Tanai, it is extremely popular in Israel but is lesser known among American Jews.We came to drive away the darknessin our hands is light and fire.Everyone is a small light,and together we are a powerful light.Fight darkness, further blacknessFight because of the lightבאנו חושך לגרש,בידינו אור ואש,כל אחד הוא אור קטן,וכולנו אור איתןסורה חושך, הלאה שחורסורה, מפני האורSarah Levi-Tanai was born into a Yemenite Jewish family that settled in pre-state Israel in the 19th century. From a young age, she saw the darkness in the world when she and her family were deported from Jaffa by the Ottoman authorities and moved to a refugee camp. She was eventually orphaned and lived in a children’s home until she went to school to become a nursery school teacher. Despite [...]

If you’re like me, you may have a similar thought every day around 3 p.m. this time of year: “I can’t believe the sun is already setting!” It may even feel like you’re having that thought earlier and earlier each day. Thankfully, this past Saturday marked the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, which means the days are now getting longer again and the sun will start setting later. But unfortunately, there isn’t any immediate satisfaction; yesterday I said to myself yet again, “I can’t believe the sun is already setting!” Deep down, I know that we’re on our way to longer days and more light, but we’re not there quite yet—so we look to the light around us. In the coming week, we will increase light around the world. From the Winter Solstice, to the lights of Christmas and then the eight nights of Hanukkah, we have [...]