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In 2009, we should expect religion to do what is has always done — inspire the very best and the very worst in human thought and practice, especially when it comes to politics and public policy. Faith is like a fire which can either safely cook our food and warm our homes, or burn them…

Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak announced that Israel is engaged in an “all out war” with Hamas. He told reporters that the Israel Defense Forces will “deepen and widen” their assault on Hamas as needed, in order to halt the endless rocket fire to which Israel has been subjected since 2001. For those who are…

This one is easy. The Most important Hanukkah story of all is yours. For seven days we have shared versions of a 2,200 year old story that have inspired people across the time and around the world. And it was all a kind of warm up exercise to help begin telling the version that matters…

After thousands of rockets and mortars landing in what virtually the entire world accepts as the sovereign and unoccupied State of Israel, Israel began a large-scale bombing operation of Gaza this weekend. This new fighting, focusing on military and governmental targets is almost certainly justifiable. To quote President-elect Obama from an earlier visit to the…

Hanukkah also celebrates the little light found within and its ability to dispel a great deal of darkness. Whether within a little vase of oil found in the Temple or within our own hearts, this story promises that good things really do come in small packages and that each of us is one of those…

For thousands of years people have struggled for the right to practice their faith freely. Not surprisingly, the story of Hanukkah as the celebration of religious freedom became particularly popular in America where we have been conducting the single most successful experiment in religious freedom ever conducted in human history. But the history of Hellenism…

Another day brings yet another Hanukkah story. But, in case you missed them, check out yesterday’s and previous days’ Hanukkah stories too. Worth doing so for the comments alone! But now, on to today’s telling of the the Hanukkah tale. For the last hundred years, Hanukkah has also been observed as a national holiday celebrating…

As we reach the mid-point of the holiday, we reacall that Hanukkah celebrates the re-dedication of the newly liberated Temple, as the word’s literal translation suggests. It also celebrates the spiritual renewal of the community which gathers around that institution and all those who follow in their path. Having experienced victory, hard-fought and/or miraculously delivered,…

The news keeps on coming in the Madoff Meltdown, and it’s not getting any better. But the comments to last week’s post about this mess have been great and they demand a response about the relationship between concepts like justice, compassion, t’shuvah (repentance) and kapparah (atonement). They are not mutually exclusive, even as applied to…

Because Zvi’s comments on today’s original post about Hanukkah as a story of the fight against assimilation, are so important, so clearly stated and so wrong, I want to respond. The quick response is that far from “careless”, my reading of history is actually historical. While it may not comfort the pietists amongst us, it…
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