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 […]
Eighth Night • Sparks of Light 5781
Why Not French Fries? Malka Moshkovits (Grade 10) and Ms. Racheli Peretz (Young Shlicha) On Chanukah, we have many customs and mitzvot, some weirder than others. Some of them make sense on a basic level, but when you think about it, they don’t make 100% sense. One of these is the custom of eating sufganiyot. […]
Seventh Night • Sparks of Light 5781
Miracles Aviva Eizicovics and Chani Shull (Grade 9) After hearing Rabbi Grauer speak about the miracles of different holidays at the JEP (Jewish Enrichment Program) meeting a couple weeks ago, we acknowledged that there are two different kinds of miracles. They are equally important even though at times they are not so clear. The first […]
Sixth Night • Sparks of Light 5781
Significance of the Menorah Tikki Reichman (Grade 11) Many people might wonder what the connection is between the lighting of the Chanukah candles and the lighting of the Menorah in the Beit Hamikdash. What’s the significance of a Menorah in the first place? I’d like to share one perspective based on the Ramban’s commentary on […]
Fifth Night • Sparks of Light 5781
Our Flask of Potential Chavi Zieleniec (Grade 11) As the Chanukah story unfolds, after a victorious battle against the יוונים, the מכבים return to find the smallest portion of oil left in the בית המקדש. The amount of oil was insufficient for one full night, even more so for all eight nights! However, the oil […]
