What does it mean for Chanuka to be the only major holiday invented in the post-biblical era? Through hassidic sources, we will explore Chanuka’s message regarding novelty and creativity in our Torah and in our lives.

Live @ Drisha: Winter Week

Miriam Gedwiser on “It is forbidden to light with an old candle” – Chanuka and the Oral Torah

A central observance of Chanuka is the recitation of Hallel on all eight days; on Purim Hallel is not recited. We will study the significance of this distinction.

David Silber on Purim and Chanuka: Megillah and Hallel

The observance of Purim centers around the Megillah, which becomes part of the canon. Chanuka, by contrast, focuses on the lighting of the candles, a Temple ritual. We will discuss the implications of each.

David Silber on Purim and Chanuka: Text and Temple

When the Hasmoneans ruled Judea in the second and first centuries BCE, hundreds of thousands of pious Jews were comfortably settled in Egypt – with no plans to return to their homeland. We will discuss what these Jews practiced, how they related to the land of Israel and the Jerusalem Temple, and what it meant to assimilate into the Greco-Roman world and still identify as a Jew.

Malka Simkovich on The Jews of Diaspora in the Hasmonean Period

Dying for a cause is considered by many the most noble form of death, and dying for one’s faith has a long and complicated history. The first Jewish martyrdom stories are from the books of Maccabees, and we will look at how this idea is used in that context, and then how it evolved and developed over the following centuries, in early Christianity and into rabbinic Judaism.

Aaron Koller on Maccabees and Martyrdom

We will explore the earliest sources that retold the dramatic story of Chanuka, and will consider how ancient retellings of Chanuka changed over time – and why.

Malka Simkovich on What Did Chanuka Stand for in Ancient Times?

We will conduct a detailed analysis of the significance of the commonalities the festivals of Chanuka and Sukkot.

David Silber on Chanuka and Sukkot

The Talmud tells about the origins of Chanuka in a way that closely parallels a talmudic legend about Adam’s first encounter with darkness. As Chanuka begins, we will study these talmudic texts to illuminate our own encounter with the darkness and with the holiday of Chanuka.

Devora Steinmetz on Darkness Envelops Me

Part of Drisha's Winter Week of Learning 2015 on Legend, History, and Halakhah: Rabbinic Judaism in the Context of the Hellenistic World

Hindy Najman on Becoming a Sage and Efficacious Prayer in the Ancient Jewish Diaspora

Hindy Najman on Translating Cultures across Linguistic Divides: The Making of the Septuagint

Hindy Najman on Hokhma and Sophia: Extremes Meet?

Vered Noam on Unity, Schism and Foreign Culture: The War of Hyrcanus and Aristobulus and the Murder of Onias

Vered Noam on Dead Sea Scrolls within the Babylonian Talmud? The Rift with the Pharisees

Vered Noam on From Prophets to Sages: John Hyrcanus and a Heavenly Voice

As Channukah is a rabbinic holiday, it becomes in Chassidut a metaphor for the power and potential of oral law. By lighting Channukah candles, we become exposed not only to the unrevealed part of Torah but to unrevealed realms of our own lives and surroundings. How can Channukah be understood as a celebration of potential not yet actualized and dreams not yet made real?

Rute Yair Nussbaum on Dreaming of Light

This collection of podcasts was recorded at Drisha's Winter Week of Learning, held in December each year. Visit our website for more information: www.drisha.org

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Live @ Drisha: Winter Week

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