This year Hanukkah and Kwanza overlap. According to Dr. Tarece Johnson, “these celebrations are an opportunity for us to reconnect with our community and remember the miracles of light, love and hope.”
Cara Hamilton likes to read a poem at the moment the candles go out, – a bit of solitude when the lights are gone.
Using this Hanukkah folktale, George Kelley explores how sometimes when seeking justice, we need to find how to get out of our own way.
These discussion starters by Solomon Hoffman are as relevant now as they were in 2016. How do we grapple with and respond to this moment in America and more deeply explore each of our own identities?
We invite you to recite the Hanukkah blessings, composed by Kolot: The Center for Jewish Women’s and Gender Studies, on at least one night this year using the feminine pronouns for God. Does your sense of the Divine shift?
“Maoz Tzur” (“Rock of Ages”), is a Hanukkah classic. Rabbi Alan LaPayover demonstrates how a Reconstructionist take on this medieval poem reframes our understanding of the “Festival of Lights.”
Bryan Schwartzman shows how the entire history of Hanukkah and its observance demonstrates the Reconstructionist understanding that Judaism is “the evolving religious civilization of the Jewish people.”
Adva Chattler guides you in making a family Hanukkah favorite and cousin to the latke — aruk — as a delicious way to remember the miracle of the oil.
Rabbi Jason Bonder discusses hanukkiyot, the Hanukkah menorah, and shows how to light the candles for the holiday.
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