Click HERE (video) for the sermon: Shine Your Light, Show Your Strength for Shabbat Hanukkah. Our Hanukiyot (hanukkah menorahs) go in our windows. Beyond the miracle of the oil we recall the valiant fight against assimilation, forced conversion, spiritual and physical annihilation. Hanukkah is more important than ever along with knowing the history of what the Maccabees really fought for.
Click HERE (video) for the Torah study with Rashi: Jacob’s Favoritism, Joseph’s Travails and Facing Ourselves. Two verses (Genesis 37:3 & 37:23) mention the Coast of Many Colors, or Stripes. Our Sages and commentators were unafraid to hold our ancestors accountable.
Click HERE (source sheet-study guide) for a source-sheet/study guide entitled: Don’t Be Afraid – Historical Verses of Prayer After Aleinu & Finding Personal Inspiration One Verse at A Time. Download and print or track this source sheet and study guide on-line, to explore some particular verses from the Tanakh that have been used in Jewish worship. Find inspiration to mine the Tanakh for verses that may inspire you either before or after a prayer service.
Click HERE (video) for: Hanukkah: The Whole Megillah. Judah Maccabee insisted that we create an eight-day festival of lights starting the 25th of Kislev. In his words (1 Maccabees 4:58): “The day of dedication of the altar should be kept in its season from year to year for eight days with joy and gladness.” That last phrase, “joy and gladness” is parallel to a phrase in the Megillah. What is the story to retell at Hanukkah time? (Originally posted Dec. 4, 2020.)