 | Lighting the Chanukeah
| | | Barukh Atta Adoshem Elokeynu Melekh Ha-olam Asher Kiddeshanu Be-mitsvotav Ve-tsivanu Lehadlik Ner Shel khanuka
Blessed are You, Lord our G!d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by His commandments, and has commanded us to kindle the lights of Chanukah. | | Blessing for G!d's Miracles
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Barukh Atta Adoshem Elokeynu Melekh Ha-olam She-asa Nissim La-avoteynu Ba-yyamim Ha-hem Ba-zzman Ha-zze
Blessed are you, Lord our G!d, King of the universe, who wrought miracles for our fathers in days of old, at this season.
| | Blessings for Season
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Barukh Atta Adoshem Elokeynu Melekh Ha-olam She-hekheyanu Ve-kiymanu Ve-higgi'anu La-zzman Ha-zze.
Blessed are You, Lord our G!d, King of the universe, who has kept us alive, and has preserved us, and enabled us to reach this time.
| | What is a Dreidel?
| | A dreidel is a toy, similar to a top, that has four sides. There is a Hebrew letter on each side. The letters stand for the phrase: "A Great Miracle Happened There." The whole family plays this game at Chanukah: a player makes a bet and spins the dreidel. When it stops spinning, the player acts according to the character on the side facing up. Nun - player does nothing. Gimel - player takes all tokens in the pot. Hay - player takes half of the tokens in the pot. Shin - player puts one token in the pot. | Click Here to Order Rabbi Arthur Segal's Books:
The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal:
A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew
A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the
Torah and Talmud
| | | | A Gift for Chanukah
A Holiday Message From Rabbi Arthur Segal's Jewish Spiritual Renewal November 2009
| | Shalom Arthur,
From the evening of Friday, December 11 until sundown on Saturday, December 19 we will celebrate the eight days and nights of Chanukah. Chanukah, which means "rededication" in Hebrew, is a time for us to remember when the Hebrews defeated the Syrian-Greeks and reclaimed and cleansed their Temple, which had been turned into a pagan place of idolatry. The story is told of the Hebrews finding just enough oil to relight the Menorah for one day, but it lasted for eight days. We celebrate this event and miracle at Chanukah. More importantly, Chanukah is a time for Jews to rededicate themselves to G!d's path for us. The rabbis wanted us to remember that as the Maccabees rededicated the desecrated Syrian-Greek Temple back to G!d, we are to rededicate our lives to Jewish Spiritual Renewal.
| | | A Gift for Chanukah
 Although we celebrate Chanukah as a reminder to rededicate our lives to G!d, this is not something that we can accomplish in only eight days.Dedicating your life to G!d and living spiritually is a lifelong process, but it is not as difficult as you may think.
My book, The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew, teaches you how to transform your life into one that is happier, more peaceful, and more spiritual.
It's companion, A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud, will instill Jewish values and an understanding of the Torah and Talmud's teachings from a modern point of view.
Either individually or as a set, these books make a thoughtful Chanukah gift that friends and family members will return to and cherish for a lifetime.
Click the link below to order a copy for somebody in your life today so that it will be in their hands by Chanukah.
| | |  | | Chanukah Traditions
The rabbis teach us that there is a reason we light the Chanukeah (Chanukah menorah) one candle the first night, two on the second and so forth up to eight. We do not light the eight candles in the opposite, descending, order to remind us that our spirituality should always be increasing and never decreasing (Talmud Bavli Tractate Shabbat 21b).
As we light the candles, one each night, rededicating ourselves to G!d's path, we see our spirituality increase as a fully illuminated Chanukeah.
However, the rabbis in Yavneh, Judea, after the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 C.E., decided not to include the four books of the Maccabees (the leaders of the revolt) into the Jewish Biblical canon, and even debated whether Chanukah should be celebrated at all.
Their rationale for the exclusion was that the texts speak of military and political victories, but do not mention the miracles of G!d. The rabbis did not want Chanukah to be remembered as a military battle, but as a spiritual one.
Chanukah is not a holiday about: "They tried to kill us. We won. Let's eat." The Sages were also quite upset with the descendents of the Maccabees, known as the Hasmoneans, who tried to quash Talmudic Rabbinic Judaism, killed many rabbis, and invited the Romans into Judea to help them rule in 63 B.C.E.
The Talmud teaches that we read a portion of the Book of Zechariah on Chanukah's Sabbath - "not by might, nor by armies, but by my spirit" - as a reminder that it was G!d who truly redeemed the Hebrews. A prayer was added to the daily Amidah liturgy called Al Ha Nisim, which means, "For the Miracles."
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