One half of the Chanukiah is lit by the fourth day! The holiday is zooming by and hard to believe that it goes so fast. I try not to get up in the buy a present, give a gift to all.  Perhaps that may seem a bit “Scrooge-ish”. I don’t mean it to be “Bah Humbug”.  But…Read more »

With the setting of the sun on December 13 the third day of Chanukah for 5770 begins.  On this third day we focus on the Maccabees. They were the sons of Mattathias the priest from Modi’in. They followed in their father’s footsteps taking on the Syrian-Greek army who did the will of King Antiochus in oppressing the Jewish…Read more »

Tonight is the second night/day of Chanukah! The menorah begins to fill with the newest light placed to the left of  last night’s candle on the far right! We always light the newest candle first.  And so we have doubled the light that shines out from the first level of the Chanukiah.  The Shamash is…Read more »

Tonight is the first light and first night of Chanukah! Happy Chanukah! This is a holiday of miracles. And tonight is the first taste of that miracle. The rabbis of old taught that the story of Chanukah was about the miracle of the oil. In Shabbat 21b of the Talmud the Rabbis write: What is…Read more »

A Torah Commentary Parshat Vayeshev Genesis 37:1 – 40:23 The holiday of Chanukah begins this coming Friday night when we light the first candle. Once a minor holiday Chanukah has risen in prominence and importance because of the proximity of the holiday to Christmas and Jews not wanting ever to be second class citizens, have…Read more »

What do I do to prepare for Chanukah? The first thing I do is figure out the candle situation. I mean afterall I always have extra Chanukah candles around. Although each box of 45 candles will be the exact number you need to get through the holiday for one menorah/chanukiah, I always have half used…Read more »

Are you ready for Chanukah? It begins this coming Friday night, December 11! Eight days of light and joy for you and your family and the world. The chanukiah –which is the nine branched menorah–fills our homes with a special glow. It reminds us of the struggle of the Maccabees, a family of priests who…Read more »

Women are under attack. Yes, there is a rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan and President Obama is convinced that we must send more troops to defeat them. The Taliban treat woman as sub-human. Requiring their complete covering in the burkha from head to foot. They have no rights and are treated as chattel by…Read more »

Today is World AIDS Day. For me the faces of so many friends are vivid in my mind’s eye. Friends who I buried. Young men who died during the 80’s and 90’s. I buried so many of them. In the early years I remember when people got diagnosed and died within days and weeks. Even…Read more »

Parshat Vayishlach Genesis 32:4-36:43 Rabbi Denise L. Eger Bob Dylan sang “the times they are a’changin’”. But it isn’t time that is changed or really even society. The changes reflected in time and societies are those changes that are made in each one of us. Collectively when we learn, grow or even if we give…Read more »