Hanukkah

In the spirit of Hanukkah, Yaakov Jaffe offers an intriguing thesis tying together a series of Mishnayot in the fourth chapter of Pirkei Avot: they are all responding to various aspects of Epicurean philosophy.

Tzvi Sinensky on the lost Menorah, the Vatican theory, and the ideology of the search and mythology.

Dan Margulies explores various opinions on where to light a Hanukah Lamp in dorms and apartments.

Countless explanations have been offered to explain the debate between Beit Hillel and Beit Shamai as to whether we light the Hanukkah candles in ascending or descending order. Yet remarkably, Hannah Abrams manages to offer a strikingly novel reading of this debate. Her analysis is well worth the read.

The Maccabees were renowned as gibborim. But what exactly is gevurah, and what does it mean for dicussions about manhood and Zionism? Tzvi Sinensky uses Hanukkah as a starting point for this contemporary conversation.

R. Shimshon Nadel explores the connection between the Hasmonean dynasty and the modern-day State of Israel.

Yitzhak Szyf explores the piyyut of Shnei Zeitim, a once well-known addition to the Shabbat Hanukkah services that subtly critiques the Hasmoneans for usurping the kingship while serving as priests.

In his latest for the Lehrhaus, Aton Holzer sheds light on the hidden roots of Hanukkah–exploring the political and theological meaning of the holiday from the Second Temple period through the Talmud.

Zach Truboff looks at the miracle of the Hanukkah oil through the lens of Franz Rosenzweig and emphasizes the importance of the belief in miracles for a meaningful religiosity.

Yaakov Jaffe delves into two possible themes of the song Maoz Tzur.