The Hanukkah Story

What really happened with those Maccabees

A long, long time ago (in 168 BCE, to be exact), King Antiochus IV ruled over ancient Israel. Not being a fan of variety, he demanded that if you didn't pray to the Greek gods and share in his same culture, you would be in trouble.

This was a problem for the Jews, who still wanted to partake in Jewish traditions like studying Torah and celebrating Shabbat. This made some of the Jewish people so angry that they decided to disobey the king. Preist Mattathias and his sons were joined by other Jews to fight back against King Antiochus IV. One son, Judah, a.k.a. Judah the Maccabee, stepped into the spotlight, leading all of his fellow fighters, the Maccabees, in an attempt to save their Jewish heritage. Even as the king's soldiers rode in on elephants to attack, the Maccabees stayed strong and drove them right out of Jerusalem.

Upon their victory, the Maccabees cleaned up the Temple and decided to light a menorah, an oil-burning lamp. As the story goes, they only had enough oil to burn for one day, but miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days and eight nights. That is why we celebrate Hanukkah for eight days, lighting another candle in the menorah each night to remember this miracle and the triumph of the Jews.

With all this talk of oil, eating dishes like latkes and jelly donuts are the perfect way to celebrate Hanukkah. You can also check out how to make your own menorah and the rules of playing dreidel.

Jesus in Yiddish

In the late 19th and early 20th century Protestant Christians made a concerted effort to convert American Jews. Key to this mission was translating the New Testament into Yiddish, the community’s lingua franca. But for Henry Einspruch, the author of the first complete Yiddish translation, the motivation was as much literary as religious. Einspruch, a Jewish-born Polish convert who eventually became a Protestant minister, was a writer and editor steeped in Yiddish literature.

Einspruch's translation, not published until 1941, gives Der Bris Khodeshe a distinctive Jewish flavor. At the Last Supper, Jesus and his disciples munch on matzah and, in the Book of Revelation, seven shofars are blown instead of seven horns. Even the volume’s illustrations seem designed to appeal to Jews. In one, an old man with a long white beard, a tallit, and a yarmulke reads a book by candlelight. The image places the New Testament in the familiar context of scholars studying ancient texts late into the night.

Der Bris Khodeshe was appreciated in the Yiddish literary world despite its author’s mission. Meylekh Ravitsh, a Yiddish writer in Mexico City, praised the translation and encouraged Jews to read it. "The New Testament [is] one of the most important books in the world. How, then, can we Jews afford to ignore it?" And with details like matzah-munching disciples and shofars ringing in the air, why would they want to?

How to Talk About the Birds, the Bees & the Holocaust with Your Kids

By Avital Norman Nathman 

As a parent, I’m fully aware that I have a slew of difficult, but necessary, conversations with my son ahead of me. We’ve already tackled one of the toughest: Where do babies come from? Despite reading a variety of parenting books and blogs, I still wasn’t sure how I would handle it when the time came, but at 3.5, when my son started asking questions, I found it was actually pretty easy.

Using anatomically correct language for body parts and a story about how it takes an egg and some seeds to grow a baby, I was able to explain the process at an age-appropriate level (with minimal giggling on my part!), and provided enough information to answer his questions. Since then we’ve revisited the topic a few times when he thinks bits of my explanation through and has had follow up questions. We’ve had these conversations during bath time, while stuck in the car on long road trips, and yes, even once at the dinner table. What I thought would be a tricky conversation fraught with lots of “um…” and “er…” turned out to be pretty easy in the grand scheme of things.

Continue reading.

A WikiHow on How to Celebrate Hanukkah

Although often referred to as Jewish Christmas, the holiday of Hanukkah is actually much older than Christmas, and a completely different holiday. Hanukkah begins at sundown on different civil dates depending on how the Jewish calendar comes out; in 2012 it begins on the evening of December 8th. Come, grab a dreidel and learn how this minor holiday which celebrates a military victory has become so important in recent years. 

• Learn about the holiday
• Get a Hannukiah
• Play dreidel
• Give small tokens to children
• Eat the foods cooked in oil
• Practice tikkun olam

  

Click here for an explanation of these topics.