Category: Chanukka
Paradox: A Chanukka Dilemma (Video)
Hanukkah teaches us how to survive exile and how to accomplish the purpose of it.
RUACH HAKODESH, A PARTNERSHIP
In ruach hakodesh, the person who’s assuming the role of boots on the ground is the initiator and decision maker. They choose a goal, mission, problem or project and pursue it with action and prayer.
SHADOWS AND LIGHT: CHANUKKA 5783/2022
Chanukka lights bring healing to the corruptions of power that surround our light and lively Chanukka observance.
“This Opposite This” HaShem Made the World
The whole drama of geopolitics comes down to “who eats who?": In the end, whose narrative is going to prevail, and absorb everyone else into its story line.
The Chinukh of Chanukka
Chanukka 5781 / 2020
This holiday is called Chanukka because it is training (chinukh) and practice for the future redemption. How so?
Chanukka: Harbinger of Messianic Gender Shifts to Come
Chanukka references toward the future, R. Luria associates them with Mashiach ben David, when “the woman of valor becomes the crown to her husband.”
ZOT CHANUKKA: A TRIBUTE TO THE SHEKHINA
The kabbalists read into Chanukka’s eight days, a journey of progressive tikun down through the sefirot from Binah to Malchut, beginning and ending on a feminine note.
A Chanukka Meditation from the Zohar
Those who seize this occasion to meditate on the Chanukka lamps will be changed by it, says the Zohar.
The Menorah: Secret of Ruach HaKodesh
Chanukka 2016 / 5777 The menorah symbolizes the Oral Torah—the light that we shine back to HaShem.
“These Lights are Holy…”: An Instruction for Meditation
Chanukka 2015 / 5776 Our simple affirmation now becomes a deep teaching about the practice (and powers) of meditation.
“…Until there are no stragglers in the marketplace.”
When is the time for lighting Chanukka candles? The earliest time is sunset but one can still fulfill the mitzvah until pedestrians disappear from the street.
Chanukka and the Feminine
The deepening union between the Shekhina and HKBH occurs in a very different way on Chanukka than on any other day of the year.
Hillel says to move toward many; Shammai says to move toward one
Hillel says to start with one candle and add another each day until there’s eight; Shammai says to start with eight and remove one each day until we’re left with one.
On Chanukka Everyone’s a High Priest
When the High Priest lit the menorah his intention was actually a prayer, that the lights now kindled should impart to the people an even deeper understanding of what it means that G-d is one.
The Inner Search for Pure Oil
Our world view, our sense of truth, our vision of perfection, our vision of what’s possible… all this is tainted by our long years of exile and association with foreign cultures.
Chanukka, Greece and Democracy
There is no person or nation that does not have at least a miniscule sliver of holiness. Otherwise it could not exist.
Holiday Teachings