Chanukah & Kislev

Judaism’s fire-lighting has always been one of building. We celebrate our days, our weeks, our months and our relationships with a fire, literally and figuratively . . .

She wanted him to give her advice on she should deal with the situation once the child was born. She wanted him to bless her with strength. He didn’t. You know what he told her instead? He told her that a person should not ask to be able to pass a test that they don’t even have....

Ask me what I did today. I’ll tell you what I recently told a fellow mom when she asked me what I did this past summer: “Nothing.” Fascinating. When I review my day with Naftoli, it’s jam-packed. When I review my day with myself, it leaves me questioning my very identity as a person...

There is no doubt that these flames are telling a story. The real question is, are we listening?

This woman was comforting me because she thought I was crying out of pain, the logical reason to cry after an accident like this. And yet, here I was crying because of the way I would look the next day...

This is not a holiday of splurging and materialism, but one of teaching our children how fortunate we have been, and how to help those less fortunate than ourselves...

Our task on these eight nights is to rededicate the Temple, in our own times, in our own lives; each night illumines a new aspect of self, lighting a new alcove of our inner House of Holiness...

It was the twenty-fifth of December, and when she closes her eyes she remembers, just how it was. A Jewish girl from Queens had fulfilled her secret dreams, decorating that bright, forbidden tree...

G‑d in the day-in, day out is the G‑d I can relate to. Now that all the blockbuster holidays have passed, I feel like my soul is in a bathrobe and fuzzy slippers...

Should I give them an answer that they want to hear, one that won't separate me from the group and will increase my chances of winning, or do I tell them what is really in my heart?

A young woman asked me this week why G‑d gave her an eating disorder. Her friends are enjoying the pleasures of youth,she struggles every moment for her health and sanity. She is young. She doesn't remember ever asking for this...

Are things as they appear to be? Or is everything also its opposite? Is heat hot? Or is it cold as well? Is ice fire? And am I no-thing?

An in-depth evaluation of the events of Chanukah reveals that the war between the Jews and the Greeks was first and foremost a spiritual war — a clash of cultures. At odds were Torah and Greek philosophy — two entirely different conceptual schemes of human life...

So “hitting rock bottom” is not the worst thing after all . . . it is only once we reach the bottom that we can actually be present to the new reality we are faced with. Only when we become present to a reality can we begin to move on from it . . .

Because Chanukah is about Jewish faith and pride, it is especially pertinent to Jewish women...

The Jewish people—men and women—defied every Greek law with enormous self-sacrifice, yet it was largely by and for the sake of Jewish women that the Maccabees were led to declare war . . .

I wanted to be tactful, but I also wanted to express my disagreement with her. "I know it's difficult, but the situation is difficult, the age is difficult. Your child isn't difficult."

By defining themselves in perfect contradistinction to one another, "light" and "darkness" enter into a symmetrical bond which attests to an underlying unity forming their common source

“Ritually pure”—what, exactly, is that? What properties does a ritually pure sample of olive oil have that the others don’t?

His pulling and pleading become more insistent and I ignored him. I knew his cries were a result of being tired and cranky and I had thought that he could wait...

I knew then that even if by some miracle I could talk my way out of not having a Gentile document, I could never explain the latkes and doughnuts in my bundle...

The ceremony marking the beginning of the school year was held in a local church. When I went to speak with the college president about this non-inclusive choice of venue, he answered me with a kindly smile . . .

I came home and explained to my husband that I just couldn't do it again. I couldn't start with the treatments again, the running around like a madwoman, the ups and downs, the anxiety. I just wanted to be happy with what I had...

In the comfort of the bus, G‑d sent me my own miracle- and made me realize that everyday brings its own causes for celebration...

Gone were the memories of all my mother’s happy years of Chanukahs celebrated together as a growing family, and they were now permanently replaced by the one indelible memory of her first Chanukah in England, alone, torn from her parents and sisters, while the Nazi inferno raged in Europe . . .

Making beeswax candles is the perfect easy craft to do with kids and prepare your home for Chanukah...

Darkness is not just what fills the sky. It can fill our vision, craft negativities in the mind, and color the same in heart. What lives in our mind is closely linked to how we feel and defines our entire reality...

As I enjoyed the beauty of G‑d’s creation, a strange thought struck me—after the leaves change, they will fall off the trees. This vibrant display of nature only occurs when the leaves are dying!