Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
Hanukkah
The Latest
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Breaking News 8 Liberal Groups Boycott Presidents Conference Hanukkah Party at Trump Hotel
(JTA) — Eight liberal members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations will not attend its Hanukkah party because it is being held at a hotel owned by President-elect Donald Trump. The Union of Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the National Council of Jewish Women, Americans for Peace Now,…
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News President Obama’s Last Hanukkah Party a ‘Bittersweet’ Moment for Liberals With Trump in Wings
An event already laden with symbolism will become even more fraught this year, as President Barack Obama hosts his last White House Hanukkah receptions. “For those of us who are partisan Democrats, this is not just a sad goodbye to President Obama, but also to the White House Hanukkah parties,” said a Washington activist who…
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News Why Is a Major Jewish Group Hosting a Hanukkah Party With Azerbaijan?
Hold the latkes, leaders of the Workmen’s Circle said this week. The liberal Jewish group won’t be attending a Hanukkah party hosted by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, citing the event’s location at Donald Trump’s Washington hotel and its co-sponsorship by the country of Azerbaijan. “As a Jewish organization, we cannot…
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News The Secret Jewish History of Kwanzaa
Fifty years ago, at the inaugural celebration of Kwanzaa, 60 black Americans gathered in a California living room to celebrate their distant African past. It was 1966. They wore dashikis and hand-woven headwear. A troupe of musicians played drums. Men and women bowed to each other and poured libations to the ancestors. Later, someone switched…
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Community How My Southern Baptist Minister Mother Explained Her First Christmas to My Orthodox Jewish Son
I am a Jew by choice, I was raised a Muslim, and my mother is an ordained Baptist minister. One might think that I would encounter religious conflict with my family on all fronts. In fact, people are often incredulous at the ease with which I can navigate through these three Abrahamic faiths. Perhaps, because…
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Food Who Makes NYC’s Best Latkes?
Ladies and gentlemen, start your graters. New York’s 8th annual Latke Festival is set for the Brooklyn Museum on Monday, December 19. It’s a throwdown by chefs at top Big Apple restaurants. Proceeds benefit the Sylvia Center, which provides culinary and health education at NYC housing centers. Related Last year’s winner, East Village Ukrainian mainstay…
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Opinion This Hanukkah Version of a Gingerbread House Annoys Me Like Nothing Else
Like almost every other Jewish Holiday, Hanukkah is a celebration of the fact that non-Jews tried to destroy Jews, but they failed. Also: Let’s eat! At its core, Hanukkah is about a fight against total Jewish assimilation into the prevailing culture of the day. So how do American Jews celebrate this festival that commemorates our…
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Culture Finally, a Judaica Exhibit That’s Actually Interesting!
Judaica, like all religious art, represents an aesthetic dilemma: Are these religious objects primarily objects of worship, or do they have an aesthetic value abstracted from any potential uses? Even if the answer is “both,” context is critical. Most Judaica exhibits that I have seen (exhibits at the Jewish Museum in Prague, or the Museo…
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