We light eight candles, but shouldn't it really be seven? Rabbi Feiner lifts this famous question up a notch by analyzing the deeper significance of these numbers, and draws out a most powerful message.
What do speech, halachah, praise and Chanukah have in common? Delineated are four kinds of speech, and how one can reach a desire to truly serve Hashem. By understanding these concepts, the story of the great risks taken by the Maccabim to fight a hopeless war come into beautiful focus.
The story of Chanukah is often retold as a series of miraculous events that took place during the span of a month. Rabbi Spiro sets the story straight with a rundown of how the massive Greek Empire rose to power, the Hellenists’ betrayal of classical Jewish values, of how the Chashmonaim held their ground and the heavy price paid for Jewish victory.
Many of our seasonal holidays commemorate miraculous events, but Chanukah seems to be the time we focus on defining the nature of miracles; the types of miracles; who they happen to; and the extent our faith can be based on them.
The force of the Oral Torah could only to take root once prophecy came to an end, which happened around the time the Greek nation was growing into an empire. Rabbi Lopiansky digs into the Torah SheBa’al Peh to show you the strength it has to get in touch with Hashem as nothing else can.
Why thank Hashem for the victory over the Greek’s, didn't He put us under their thumb in the first place? Rabbi Leff takes a deeper look at the beauty of Greek culture, and how its allure sidetracks people from true spirituality. Learn the attraction of doing mitzvos for the most part externally and how the Chanukah struggle is a cure for this debilitating disease.
Why was the Syrian Greek military campaign intent on defiling Jewish oil? Just as a physically blind person is considered as if dead, so is a spiritually blind person also considered dead. Once Rabbi Wagensberg explains the secret of Jewish survival, you'll understand why and how the Greeks planned to implant spiritual blindness, and eliminate true spiritual vision in the future.
Our holidays are times of growth and opportunity. Rav Noah points to an opportunity of growth this Chanukah and how to appreciate the miracle. If you are looking for an inspirational challenge this Chanukah, this may be an interesting place to start.
Chanuka takes us back to the immense victory of a small guerilla army over the massive Greek power machine. But isn't God's doing miracles every moment the point of the holiday? Rav Noah drives home a different message - how the mesiras nefesh for Hashem was so vibrant at the time, and directs us in his final public talk how to reach that same level of selflessness for God today.
The war against the Greeks began when Mattisyahu brazenly slew a Jewish traitor. Why did it take so long for someone to stand up? In Rav Noah's last public address before his passing, he reveals the essence of his personal drive and vision - and the miracles that resulted.