Hanukkah
Go to Ammon and MoabMonday, February 25, 2013 by Daniel Gordis | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Imagining themselves to be the wise men consulted on Vashti’s fate, the Rabbis deferred to the Jews’ enemies, saying, “from the day when we were exiled from our land, wisdom has been taken from us."
’Twas the Day After Christmas . . .Wednesday, December 26, 2012 by Ethan Schwartz | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Joshua Eli Plaut’s new book, A Kosher Christmas: ’Tis the Season to Be Jewish, fails to recognize that in subverting Christmas, American Jews have promoted their own assimilation.
Warfare on Shabbat: The Legacy of the MaccabeesFriday, December 14, 2012 by Moshe Sokolow | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Ezra and Nehemiah were so successful in instilling Shabbat observance that Jews refused to take up arms on Shabbat to defend themselves—with disastrous results.
The First War of National LiberationWednesday, December 12, 2012 by Diana Muir Appelbaum | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The Maccabees' revolt can lay claim to being the first war of national liberation. Reprinted here is Diana Muir Appelbaum’s account of why the Book of Maccabees is so modern and so dangerous.
A Meditation on Maoz ZurMonday, December 10, 2012 by Ismar Schorsch | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In this 1988 essay, Ismar Schorsch writes that the much maligned final stanza of Maoz Zur, which calls for divine retribution against Israel’s enemies, illustrates a distinction between redemption within history and the ultimate redemption, which must come from without.
Editors' Picks
A Friend in Francis Monica Yanakiew, JN1. Months before his election as Pope Francis I, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio attended Hanukkah celebrations in Buenos Aires and spoke of "the holy light shining on all mankind." (Video)
Swords Into Plowshares Jonathan Greenstein, Huffington Post. The owner of a Judaica auction house presents striking hanukkiot from Europe and India. There is also one from Israel, made from a rifle stock and dedicated by Yitzhak Rabin.
Hanukkah Stats Ran Abramitzky, Liran Einav, Oren Rigbi, Economic Journal. It had to happen: economists have subjected Hanukkah to regression analysis to determine whether or not the holiday is simply a Jewish Christmas. (2009)
Branching Out Shmarya Rosenberg, Failed Messiah. Virtually every ancient image of the menorah depicts it with curved branches. So, why do Chabad’s hanukkiot have angled straight branches instead?
A Habsburg Hanukkah Matti Friedman, Times of Israel. How did the ornamental headgear of an Imperial soldier, emblazoned with the double-headed eagle, emblem of the Holy Roman Emperor, come to be a hanukkiah?
Hanukkah Musings Gil Student, Ari Enkin, Torah Musings. From whether a convert can recite the Al ha-Nisim blessing to how to eat a donut, here are the answers to Hanukkah questions you never thought to ask. (E-book)
The First Hellenist Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg, Jerusalem Post. The Maccabees warred against the Seleucids and their Hellenized Jewish allies. But Judaean Hellenism began earlier, under the Ptolemies—and was not so bad for the Jews.
Of Rabbis and Maccabees Reuben Livingstone, Jewish Chronicle. The rabbis never deny the necessity of self-defense. So, why does the Talmud’s discussion of Hanukkah downplay the military exploits of the Maccabees?