Hanukkah 2023
In 2023, Hanukkah begins at sundown on Thursday, Dec. 7 and lasts until sundown on Friday, Dec. 15.
9 Things You Didn’t Know About Hanukkah
Lesser-known facts about the Festival of Lights.
Hanukkah 101
From candle-lighting to Maccabees and latkes to dreidels.
Struggling With Our Shadow
At this moment of intensifying violence, the Torah offers an insight into how we might open a path towards peace.
Next Torah Portion
Summary
In this Torah portion, God tells Jacob to return home. Worried that his brother Esau will kill him, Jacob divides his clan into two camps, so at least some will survive in case of a fight. Jacob sleeps alone in the desert and is awoken by an angel who wrestles him through the night. Jacob survives and is blessed by the angel and renamed Israel. Jacob meets his brother and, surprisingly, they embrace. Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, is raped by Shekhem, who then proposes to Jacob that he marry her. Shimeon and Levi brutally murder Shekhem and his clan. Rachel has another child, whom she and Jacob name Benjamin.
Featured Commentary
Parashat Vayishlach: Honoring the Best of Jacob
This Torah portion interperses multiple momentous encounters with the divine realm with a series of fraught incidents between humans.
Daf Yomi
Bava Kamma 26
The second-most dangerous animal.
Bava Kamma 25
A fortiori.
Bava Kamma 24
The petting test.
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Why the Maccabees Aren’t in the Bible
The books that tell the Hanukkah tale didn’t make it into the Hebrew Bible — but they are in the Catholic one.
Why Music is Fundamental to Jewish Prayer
Jewish tradition teaches that music unlocks the door to divine connection.
The History of Hanukkah
How the festival of lights became a holiday, and how it has evolved in modern times.