This is the Forward’s coverage of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
Hanukkah
The Latest
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Community The Great Latke Debate: Applesauce vs Sour Cream
For many American Jews, Hanukkah is synonymous with latke season. Pillowy on the inside and perfectly crisp on the outside, these potato pancakes are delicious just about however you serve them. But like any Jewish matter, a contentious debate takes place every year over what the best way to top them is. Traditionally, either sour…
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Food The History of the Latke-Hamentash Debate – Alive And Well Since 1946
For 72 years running, some of the country’s foremost scholars have gathered in one of the University of Chicago’s most Gothic halls to debate one of the most challenging questions of our time: what is superior, latkes, the Hanukkah fried potato special, or hamentashen, the triangular Purim pastries? To paraphrase 2018 debate moderator Joshua Feigelson,…
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Food At Brooklyn’s Latkefest, A Short Rib Latke Wins 1st Place
At the 10th annual Latkefest, taking place at the Brooklyn Museum, 26 different versions of the latke, from deconstructed to overstuffed, were being studiously examined by judges and over 500 participants, in a continuation of a decade-old New York tradition. All proceeds went to benefit the Sylvia Center, a non-profit dedicated to teaching children nutrition…
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Community When Did Jews Start Giving One Another Hanukkah Gelt?
Gift-giving on Hanukkah is one of those interesting modern conundrums, something that’s always fallen somewhere between bothering me and delighting me. Aside from inescapable disingenuousness of the Hanukkah Harry exchanges we staged in my yeshiva day school years and the slippery slope of Hanukkah gifts that seem to lead inevitably to Hanukkah bushes, Hanukkah stockings…
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News Chabad’s Helicopter Gelt Drop Is Great For Hanukkah – Or Is It?
See the helicopter, hovering low above a grassy field ringed with children jonesing for a sugar rush. Watch pounds and pounds of gelt — chocolate coins in metallic foil — dumped out of said helicopter. Observe the children descend on the fallen gelt like Israelites on manna from heaven. If you happen to be in…
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Recipes Old School Schmaltz Latkes For Hanukkah
According to the dictionary, schmaltz can refer to melted chicken fat, or to excessive sentimentality; overly emotional behavior. So how much schmaltz is too much schmaltz? Anthony Rose, a chef who swears by schmaltz, would know. Rose owns 5 successful restaurants, including diner-turned-deli Rose and Sons, as well as Middle Eastern-themed Fat Pasha, and a…
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Life I Got Disinvited From A Hanukkah Party — Because I’m Politically Conservative
I’ve been left off the Solomons’ Hanukkah party list. You know the Solomons* – that large, loving, trans-generational family of educated, cultured, politically active writers, lawyers, professors, and psychotherapists. It was one of the great fortunes of my life that I was “adopted” into the family. And for fifty years now, I have been going…
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The Schmooze Whoopi Goldberg Has Made The Perfect Ugly Hanukkah Sweater
When it comes to holiday sweaters, also known as the Ugly Holiday Sweater, Christmas tends to get all the attention. Maybe it’s the cascade of glittering lights that decorate streets and homes that make the festiveness easy to capture. Or perhaps it’s the distinctive red and green color scheme, a uniquely bold color combination that…
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News An Israeli restaurant chain said it closed due to boycotts. Protesters are celebrating.
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Opinion Jews are worried about Zohran Mamdani. Here’s why they shouldn’t be
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Film & TV What the new season of ‘Nobody Wants This’ gets right — and very wrong — about Judaism
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News Many U.S. synagogues display the Israeli flag on their bimahs. After the hostages were released, one NYC shul decided to move theirs.
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