8 Thoughts for 8 Nights

Hanukkah & the Essence of True Beauty

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

Top Ten Hanukkah Gifts for Husbands

Skip the new tie. Give your husband the gift he really wants.

Rabbi Benjamin Blech

Miracles, Human and Divine

Like the days of Hanukkah, we are witnessing miracles today.

Top Ten Hanukkah Gifts Every Wife Wants

This year give your wife the gift she really wants.

Hanukkah: The Force Awakens

In a dark world, you must be the light.

Three Ways to Give Thanks this Hanukkah

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

Days of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving and Hanukkah remind us to be grateful not just for the success, but even for the struggle.

Rabbi Benjamin Blech

Thanksgivukkah

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

Flames of Rebellion

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

Hanukkah’s 4-Point Battle Plan

The Maccabees’ eternal lessons for preserving Jewish continuity and pride.

Rabbi Benjamin Blech

Jews and War

The Maccabees realized that there is a time to fight.

Let There Be Light

Understanding the cultural clash between the Greeks and the Jews.

Rabbi Benjamin Blech

Assimilation & the Chanukah Oil

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

Chanukah and the Heroic Jewish Woman

Are we willing to fight for what’s right?

The Miracle of Chanukah

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

Miracle on Ice - Chanukah Edition

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

Rabbi Benjamin Blech

Chanukah and Burnout

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

Eight Ways to Banish the Darkness

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

Rabbi Benjamin Blech

Tiger Woods and Chanukah

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

One Pure Thing

Bringing the hidden light of Chanukah into our lives.

Alexander the Great and the Jewish High Priest

The astonishing connection between the two reflects the deeper meaning of Hanukkah.

The Nature of Nature

What's the difference between nature and the miraculous?

Sara Yoheved Rigler

The Chanukah Question

Is it a Jewish value to yield or to resist?

Taking Up Arms

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.

Give It All You've Got

The Maccabees taught us that immobilizing perfectionism leaves no room for God.

The Non-Jewish World of Disney

A Jewish princess does not wait for her prince.

Eight Great Chanukah Gifts for Kids

Being a role model for Jewish values is truly the gift of a lifetime.

Chanukah: The Prequel

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

Spinning the Dreidel

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

Natural is Supernatural, Naturally

Miracles don't happen anymore, do they?

Rekindling the Sparks of Peace

The heart of fire contains the unifying power of peace.

Soulless

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

Reality and Potential

Shoot for the stars or be more realistic? Two perspectives reflected in the Chanukah light.

Alexander and the Jews

The pivotal scene that you won't see in any movie sets the stage for the story of Chanukah.

The Winning Spirit

Tapping into the spiritual energy of Chanukah.

Chanukah Lights and Wrights

The menorah's flames remind us that technology is but a gift from God.

Sara Yoheved Rigler

The Capture of Saddam: A Chanukah Meditation

Some surprising lessons are unearthed with Saddam Hussein.

Chanukah: To Conceal and Reveal

Nurturing the subtle, contradictory strivings for intimacy.

Chanukah: Seeing in the Darkness

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

Out of the Closet

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.

Chana's 7 Sons

The story of Chana and her seven sons is one of the most heartrending in all of Jewish history.

Yehudit and the Decree

The Chanukah story is filled with the dedication and heroism of Jewish women.

Zeus and Greek Gods

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

Defiling the Holy

The Greeks wanted to tear out the heart of Judaism and reduce it to mere symbolism.

Greece: The Dark Side

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

Hellenism: Who Cares?

In many ways America is the cultural by-product of ancient Greece.

Matityahu's Revolt

For the Maccabees, it was not physical life at stake, but the spiritual life of the Jew.

The Al HaNissim Prayer

The meaning of the special prayer of gratitude recited on Chanukah.

Transcending Limits

Time-traveling with an army general and a CNN correspondent back to the Jewish revolt against the Greeks.

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