Maccabees

The Truth(s) About Hanukkah

Shawna Dolansky | Posted 02.22.2012

Read More: History, Religion, Hanukah, Maccabees, Assimilation, Judaism, Terrorism, Hanukkah, Book of Maccabees, Hanukkah 2011, Origins of Hanukkah, History of Hanukkah, Story of Hanukkah, Religion News

The truth about the Maccabees is a slippery one. National liberators or religious fanatics? Freedom fighters or terrorists? The truth depends on who's telling their story, and for what purpose.

Read Post

Hanukkah And How War Should Be Celebrated

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach | Posted 02.19.2012

Read More: Hanukkah 2011, Hanukkah, Jewish Festival of Lights, Hanukkah Reflection, Celebrating War, Festival of Lights, Maccabees, Hanukkah History, War in Judaism, Judaism, Story of Hanukkah, Religion News

For Jews, practicing our religion has never been as straightforward. Throughout history we have had to fight and die simply to observe our faith. Hanukkah represents a triumphant moment.

Read Post

Ghost Stories: Israel's Past Comes to Life

Angela Himsel | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Jewish Temple, King David, Jerusalem, City of David, Yom Kippur War, Hamas, Six-Day War, Maccabees, Chanukah, Zionism, Benjamin Netanyahu, Golan Heights, Anti-Semitism, Theodore Herzl, Israel, Eilat Mazar, Gilad Shalit, New York News

"I'm having a love affair," our cousin Motti confides, "with ghosts." It's a pitch-black night but artificial light glows on the walls of Jerusalem's Old City just beyond us.

Read Post

The Spiritual Messages Of Hanukkah And Christmas ... And Their Downsides

Rabbi Michael Lerner | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Social Justice, Chanukah, Maccabee, Maccabees, Xmas, Christmas, Greek Empire, Jewish Holidays, Hanukkah, Christian Holidays, Secularization, Religion and Politics, Obama, Interfaith Holidays, Holiday Season, Religion News

Christmas and Hanukkah share a spiritual message: that it is possible to bring light and hope in a world of darkness, oppression and despair.

Read Post

Meatless Monday: Some Kind of Miracle

Ellen Kanner | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Book of Ruth, John 6, Hanukkah, Barley, Maccabees, Green News

There's no going back in time to an all-agrarian world. But returning to growing more sustainable food, like barley, wouldn't hurt.

Read Post

The Miracle(s) Of Hanukkah

Rabbi Laura Geller | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Small Group of People Can Change the World, Miracles, Hanukkah, Maccabees, Rabbi David Hartman, Jewish Temple, Chanukah, Jerusalem, Judaism, Hanukkah Miracle, Menorah, Hanukkah Origin, Jewish Holidays, Hanukkah 2010, Chanukah 2010, Religion News

What is the real miracle of Hanukkah? It is the miracle of human courage that empowers us to take risks for the future even in our imperfect, uncertain world. It is the courage, even in the darkest of times, to create our own light.

Read Post

Responding to Hitchens on Chanukah

Rabbi Michael Lerner | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Jews, Empire, History, Religion, Chanukah, Maccabees, Science, Religion and Politics, Religion-and-Science, Imperialism, Richard Dawkins, Politics News

The story of Chanukah is a story of resilience and courage. Unfortunately for some, it is also a story of rejecting Western values. This is why that belief is not correct.

Read Post

Judah the Maccabee's Five Lessons for Barack Obama

Aaron Zelinsky | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Corruption, Freedom-Tower-Construction, Kabul-Mayor, Rome, Maccabees, Afghanistan, George W. Bush, President Obama, Kabul, Story of Chanukah, Menorah, Afghanistan Corruption, Story-of-Chanukah, Antiochus, Osama Bin Laden, Afghanistan War, Chanukah, Greece, Dead-or-Alive, Freedom Tower, Judah Maccabee, Counterinsurgency, Afghanistan-Counterinsurgency, Orin Hatch, Orin Hatch Chanukah Song, Somalia, Two-State Solution, Israel, Hannukah, One World Trade Center, World News

From the story of Chanukah, we see how not to fight a guerrilla insurgency. From the Maccabees, we learn how to rally a people and a nation. Here are Chanukah's five geopolitical lessons.

Read Post

Under Stimulated: Building Trains and Other Stuff We Need Rather Than What Wall Street Dictates

Joel Epstein | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Upper East Side, Vice President Biden, New Year's, President Obama, Gm, Christmas, Park Avenue, Maccabees, High Speed Rail, Facebook, Los Angeles, High Speed Internet, Chanukah, Japan, Aig, Neoconservatives, Infrastructure, Economic Stimulus Package, Berkeley, Citibank, Uncle Sam, Santa Claus, New York Times, San Francisco, Timothy Geithner, Google, Mass Transit, Los Angeles News

I'm making real investment in fast trains that run where people live and want to go my wish for the New Year.

Read Post

Hanukkah: How to Celebrate (And Clean Up After) the Festival of Lights

Michael DeJong | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Hope and Change, Miracles, Rededication, Maccabees, Festival of Lights, Hannukah, Wax, Candles, Jewish Culture, Obama, Menorah, Green Living, Old Testament, Healthy Living News

Yes, Hanukkah candles drip. There are always distractions from every family ritual, but try to "be in the moment." Don't slip into "freak-out" mode just because something isn't going as planned.

Read Post

The Spirit of Chanukah

Eric Lurio | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Religion, Christianity, Israel, Spirituality, Chanukah, Holidays, Maccabees, Judaism, Chanukah Christmas, Meaning of Chanukah, Healthy Living News

I guess it was inevitable that Chanukah would become "Christmas Lite," and did so years ago. For much of the last century, Chanukah is a festival that exists out of envy, like Kwanzaa.

Read Post