Eighth Night • Sparks of Light 5782
Inside Out Lights Sarah Paskowitz, Grade 11 Light is a common theme in Jewish ritual. We have Shabbat candles, Havdalah candles, and Chanukah candles. But what is similar about these different candles? Hashem commands us to light Shabbat candles to bring שלום בית, peace in the home. Shabbat candles are meant to be used and […]
Seventh Night • Sparks of Light 5782
Chasing Away Inner Darkness Ayelet Brodt and Lia Sonderling, Grade 10 One of the most self-evident explanations behind lighting Chanukah candles is that we are publicizing the miracle that took place during the times of the Maccabees, the miracle of a flask of oil that lasted eight days, when it should have only burned for […]
Sixth Night • Sparks of Light 5782
Looking Beyond the Bright Light Shoshana Rucker and Tali Wercberger, Grade 11 Why do we say Maoz Tzur on Chanukah? The song we sing by the candles each night is one that recalls times in which Hashem rescued us from our enemies, specifically Pharoah, Bavel, Haman, and the Greeks. If this is a song where […]
Fifth Night • Sparks of Light 5782
Learning by Example Leora Tenenbaum, Grade 12 The source for adding one candle every day of Chanukah comes from the Gemara in Masechet Shabbat 21b where it says: “מצות נר חנוכה נר איש וביתו… והמהדרין מן המהדרין… בית הלל אומרים מוסיף והולך” This means that according to Halacha, every household technically only needs to light […]
Fourth Night • Sparks of Light 5782
Lessons from the Shamash Bella Novokolsky and Meeya Weinberger, Grade 10 The Netziv says at the beginning of Parshat Beha’alotcha, that the Menorah represents all forms of wisdom. As we know, Betzalel created everything for the Mishkan. Hashem told Betzalel to make the Menorah out of one solid piece of gold. He was unable […]
Third Night • Sparks of Light 5782
Naturally Supernatural Tamara Goldman (Grade 11) There is a famous question from the Beis HaLevi which says that when the Jews found the pach hashemen, there was enough kosher oil to last for one day, therefore the miracle of the oil was only seven days. Why, then, do we celebrate Chanukah for eight? A […]
Second Night • Sparks of Light 5782
The Miracle of Faith Gila Grauer (Grade 9) Everyone knows that we celebrate eight days of Chanukah to symbolize the miracle of the oil, and how it burned for eight days when it only should have burned for one. One of the most famous questions associated with this is, why eight? The first day […]
Introducing Sparks of Light 5782
First Night • Sparks of Light 5782
Shine Bright Like A… Jellyfish? Aviva Eizicovics and Chani Shull (Grade 10) מַ֭לְּפֵנוּ מִבַּהֲמ֣וֹת אָ֑רֶץ וּמֵע֖וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם יְחַכְּמֵֽנוּ Who gives us more knowledge than the beasts of the earth? Who makes us wiser than the birds of the sky? The above pasuk from Sefer Iyov reminds us there is much to learn from all of […]
Graduation Address 2021
By: Rabbi Seth Grauer Click here to watch the address, which was delivered at BAS Graduation 2021 on June 14, 2021. In the famous city of Chelm, the villagers had a terrible problem. There was a small bridge running over a river, but the bridge had a hole in it. And the villagers kept stepping […]
