Hanukkah

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.

Mois Navon explores what makes Hanukkah so special.

Outside the Land of Israel, we add an extra day to several holidays. Michael Kurin wonders: why not on Hanukkah?

Yaakov Jaffe advocates adding a song to those sung while lighting Hanukkah candles.

David Schwartz explores thematic similarities between the Hanukkah miracle and Pharaoh’s dreams.

In his Yiddish poem "Hanukkah" (1932), Avrom Liessen poignantly recalled his early experience of the holiday. Dov Greenwood's vivid translation transports us into that wondrous world.

Through an analysis of Hanukkah ads, Yael Buechler explains how Yiddish newspapers used the Old Country language to acculturate Jews to the New Country.

The propriety of celebrating the downfall of enemies presents a complex web of questions and seemingly contradictory Jewish texts. Michael Kurin makes sense of this subject and proposes a framework for applying it to matters of Israeli public policy.

In honor of Hanukkah, Admiel Kosman considers literary and aggadic traditions that depict holy people as burning flames or sources of light. He proposes that these traditions be read in light of Martin Buber’s insight regarding the dialogical personality.

Elli Fischer explores the ideological components of developments in Hanukkah traditions.