7 Responses to “What’s Your Chanukah Inspirational Take Away?”

1. Mark Frankel
   December 1st, 2010 @ 1:35 pm

   I liked this article from Aish with Matisyahu’s thoughts on Chanukah. I don’t listen much to his music but I think he captured some good messages here.

   I’ve been sharing them with some of my frum and non-frum friends.

   http://www.aish.com/h/c/t/dt/Matisyahus_8_Chanukah_Insights.html

2. Charlie Hall
   December 1st, 2010 @ 8:35 pm

   The annals of military history are full of cases where a force that appeared to be hopelessly outnumbered actually won. Chanukah reminds us of who really was responsible for all those miraculous victories.

3. Mr. Cohen
   December 1st, 2010 @ 10:11 pm

   My hope is that this year, Chanukah will bring miracles for Jews equal to those that happened in the time of the Macabees.

4. Judy Resnick
   December 1st, 2010 @ 11:36 pm

   Chanukah time makes me think about the narratives of the Shoah, about how there were Jews in the concentration camps who secretly crafted small menorahs and wicks and saved bits of margarine for the oil, so that they could observe the mitzvah of lighting the Chanukah lamps. They desperately needed that little light of holiness in the middle of that great darkness.

   Also, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, zatzal, once said that the story of Hanukkah resonates with the American people because it is very similar to the history of this country: a small outnumbered rebel band fighting against foreign tyranny. Maybe George Washington isn’t exactly Judah Maccabee, but you can see the parallels.

   Finally, Rabbi Meir Kahane OBM once wrote that nonreligious Jewish organizations should be rejecting the holiday and saying, “Down With Hanukkah,” instead of celebrating it, because of its intolerant message of rejecting assimilation and obeying rabbinic Judaism.

5. Charlie Hall
   December 2nd, 2010 @ 5:34 pm

   The George Washington analogy is appropriate. As a military leader, he actually lost far more battles than he won. But he always kept his army in good shape to fight another day. Am Yisrael may also have lost far more battles than it has won. But we are still here!

6. ChanaLeah
   December 9th, 2010 @ 12:15 am

   Our Rav gave a shiur about the special spiritual energy of Chanukah being tied to the idea of “cleaning house” in the sense that the Maccabees fixed up the Beis Hamikdash, and each year during Chanuka we have a special Koach to be successful in fixing up our own homes- not materially, but by improving our middos with the goal of improving our relationships. There is a certain shalom bayis that descends when the menoras are lit, no??

7. Judy Resnick
   December 9th, 2010 @ 3:34 pm

   To Chana Leah #6: There’s even a tie-in with the phrase, “zos chanukas ha-bayis,” this is the dedication of the house, where “bayis” could refer not only to the Bais HaMikdash but also to our own Jewish homes; not entirely coincidentally similar to the phrase, “sholom bayis” referring to peace in the home and in the family relationships. Also tying into the idea of lighting candles in the home bringing peace into the home, similar to Shabbos candle lighting; in both cases, not good enough to light candles in shul, they must be lit at home (this is hashkafa not halacha).

   Charlie Hall #5: If the war is about survival of the Jewish people, then yes we won. Like it says in the Passover Haggadah, “In every generation they rise up to destroy us.” Whether the enemy is named Antiochus or Haman or Hitler or Ahmadinejad, the Holy One Blessed Be He always delivers us from their hands.

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