In vs. Out
All of hilchot chanukah are house-oriented. Why did the Greeks defile, rather than destroy, the Beit HaMikdash unlike the Babylonians and Romans did? Why is the Beit Hamikdash referred to as...
Chanukah in Megilat Taanit, the Gemara and the Rishonim
Rav Ilson discusses How the Rambam, other Rishonim, the geonim, the Gemara, and Megillat Taanit approach at Chanukah & the differences between each approach.
Keeping the House Clean
The emphasis on Chanukah seems to be on the house, both vis-a-vis the miracle and the way we commemorate it. What is the significance?
OU Kosher Halacha Yomis: Chanukah
Which Comes First on Motzei Shabbos, Chanukah Lights or Havdalah? There is a dispute among the poskim concerning this question. Normally, in selecting the sequence of two mitzvos we are guided...
What is Hidden is Never Lost: Rapa-Dreidels, Portugal and...
Communal memories do not vanish. They may become tenuous, fragile as wisps, as fragments, as shards of dreams. But they remain. Though the atrocities of the Inquisition sought to banish our...
The Bais HaMikdash: Power Source of Spirituality
The Bach commenting on Tur Shulchan Aruch explains that the decrees of the Yevanim against the Jewish people occurred because the Jewish people became “lax in their service.” Earlier in history, the...
Jerusalem vs. Athens: Understanding Gestation
The record of the debate between Rav Yehoshua ben Chananya and the Elders of Athens appears in the Gemara in the context of gestation periods of different animals, particularly the snake....
Jerusalem vs. Athens: The Glory That Was Greece Becomes...
The historical context of the story of Yehoshua ben Chananya’s debate with the Elders of Athens (Greek Philosophers) and the significance of its taking place during the reign of the Roman...
Chinuch – The Essence of Chanukah
Why did the Greeks defile the temple rather than destroy it. Why was it the kohanim who led the fight against the Greeks in the Chanukah story?
Ner Chanukah: To Boldly Go Beneath the Shechina
Chanukah doesn’t even make it into the mishna let alone Tanach and is completely removed from the concept of “sefer”, book. Why is the concept of “regel” central to Chanukah?
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- Asarah B'Tevet
- Birchat HaChama
- Chanukah
- Elul
- Fast of Esther
- Fast of Shiva Asar B'Tammuz
- Fast of Tisha B'Av
- Four Shabbatot
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- Yom HaAtzmaut
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- Yom Yerushalayim
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