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A man and woman exchanging a Hanukkah gift in a bag patterned with colorful dreidels

Hanukkah: More Than Just Presents?

Katharine Nasielski

This weekend, we will gather together with family or friends (or, if you’re on the RAC staff, with 215 high school students at L’Taken) around the Chanukah lights, spin the dreidel, eat latkes and sufganyot and engage in the great “applesauce or sour cream” debate.

Rise up Maccabean Style for Rights of the Disabled

Rabbi Lynne Landsberg

Raechel Banks

The sages of the Talmud had a debate about how we are to light the Chanukah menorah: Should we begin with eight candles and remove one each night, or begin with one and add through the holiday?

Songs of the Season

Larry Kaufman, z"l

When JanetheWriter reminded her friends on Facebook, 'tis the season to be satiated with the songs of the season, I promised her I would tell my favorite White Christmas story.

Don’t Curse the Darkness, Light a Candle

Rabbi Rick Jacobs

In his essay, “The Legacy of the Maccabees,” Dr. Shaye Cohen writes: “From the perspective of world history and Jewish history, the Hasmonean (Maccabean) revolt was epoch making.

Be a Lamplighter: A Reflection on Newtown and Darkness

Rabbi Sari Laufer

I have a bunch of blog posts brewing in my head, but felt like I couldn't write anything until I wrote about Newtown. But, what could I say? What can I say?

Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing in the Pews: A Parent’s Perspective

As we approach Deaf and Hard-of -Hearing Awareness Shabbat, I am reminded of Leviticus 19:14, "You shall not insult the deaf."

"Men Can Be Rabbis?!"

Jesse Paikin

“Who’s that guy?” I asked my mom.

“He’s the rabbi,” she answered. I stared up at my mom, with a blank gaze on my face.

When I was eight years old, my family joined a synagogue for the first time.

Hard of Hearing, but not of Living Jewishly

Rachel Dubin

It has now been 30 years since I lost all my residual hearing. I have never let my deafness stop me from anything, even from particapting in the Jewish community.

The Melodies of the Four Questions: Mah Nishtanah Tunes for Passover

Do you remember the first time you were called upon to recite the four questions? There is nothing quite like the sound of the youngest child making a first attempt at the four questions. Proud parents at the ready silently mouthing the words lest the youngster should stumble and require...

Numbers, Stories, and a Long Tradition of Ritual

March 26, 2011

Parashat Sh'mini —the eighth day; how many of our parashiyot start with a number?