Hanukkah is a time to celebrate the power of Jewish self-determination
Hatred of Jews and Israel comes from exactly the same place, and we must channel the Maccabees to resist it
Maccabees
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News A miracle happened somewhere around here: A look at life on the land where Hanukkah began
The Book of Maccabees tells us where the first Hanukkah took place. For locals, the spirit of the holiday lasts more than eight days.
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Culture The prickly reason Mel Gibson will never be canceled
The reason Mel Gibson still works in Hollywood has to do with some obscure — possibly Australian — practice called cactus-hugging. Earlier this week actor Josh Malina, writing for The Atlantic, wondered why Gibson, despite his many high-profile — and in the case of “Passion of the Christ,” highly lucrative — displays of antisemitism, may…
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Culture Hanukkah today would make the Maccabees roll over in their graves
Corporations — and plenty of everyday people — treat Hanukkah as Jewish Christmas. It has a nice little story about miraculous oil, plus you decorate your house and give gifts. Even plenty of Jews feel this way; Hanukkah provides a way for us to participate in the music, media and cheer that dominates the Christmas…
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Community Our era’s Maccabee moment is now
This year, we have to remember the original meaning of Hanukkah. What many of us associate with the holiday — a little bit of oil miraculously going a long way — seems profoundly underwhelming for a God who creates the world and redeems nations from slavery. Some will say it is precisely this fact, that…
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Life Memo to The New York Times: Hanukkah, like Judaism, is about bucking tradition
“I am not Jewish and it doesn’t feel authentic to celebrate a Jewish holiday religiously,” read a recent New York Times article titled “Saying Goodbye to Hanukkah.” Jewish Twitter took offense, half railing against the author’s interfaith background and the dangers of assimilation, and the other half upset that a woman who does not consider…
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Fast Forward Move Over, ‘Maccabeats’! These Are The Best Hanukkah Music Videos Of 2017
2010 was a happy time. The great recession was more or less over and Julia Louis-Dreyfus was getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. When the then-Yeshiva University a cappella group The Maccabeats released a Hanukkah themed parody of “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz that went viral, ultimately garnering over 13 million views, the…
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The Schmooze All The Lies You’ve Ever Heard About Hanukkah, Debunked
Hanukkah begins on December 12 this year. That is, Chanukah begins on December 12 this year. We light the menorah (or is it the hanukkiah?) and celebrate — oil. Lasting, high-quality lamp oil. Can that be right? If you don’t know your Hasmoneans from your Seleucids, read on. After all, a great miracle happened here!…
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