It's Miraculous

In a couple of weeks, it’ll be time to start pulling out chanukkiyot (nine-branch candelabras), setting up candles, and frying all kinds of traditional delicacies. But don’t worry! There’s still plenty of time to put together lesson plans, sermons, worksheets, and all manner of educational materials. Here are some materials our team thought you might find useful.

Finding and Spreading Light

One of the most common themes associated with Chanukkah is light. These materials look not only at the light at the center of the Chanukkah miracle, but also at how scholars throughout the ages have thought about finding light in unexpected places.

HaNerot Halalu is a liturgical text recited after the candles are lit and blessed, which describes a connection between the light of the Chanukkah candles and the festival miracle.

In this excerpt from tractate Avodah Zara in the Babylonian Talmud, the rabbis discuss how Adam made sense of the seasons when faced with increasingly shorter and darker days, eventually establishing an eight-day festival.

Is Chanukkah connected to the creation story? In this section of Sefat Emet, a sweeping Torah commentary by chasidic scholar Rebbe Yehuda Leib Alter, the author suggests a link between the two narratives, revealing more sources of light.

Women in the Chanukkah Story

Two women, Judith and Hannah, play unique roles in the textual tradition of Chanukkah. Judith, who channeled her grief into a daring act that ended a war, was not originally understood to be part of the Chanukkah story, but became associated with the holiday during the Middle Ages. Hannah is more directly connected, as the mother and fervent supporter of her seven sons who paid the ultimate price for their refusal to compromise their faith.

Take a look at a musical midrash about Judith, whose tale of daring is often associated with the military victory in the Chanukkah story. Crafted by multimedia artist Alicia Jo Rabins, this source sheet includes an original song, a summary of Judith’s story, and discussion questions.

This excerpt from Peninei Halakhah, an extensive 20th-century halakhic work by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, explores the logic behind women’s obligation to perform the mitzvot of Chanukkah.

In the Talmud (Gittin 57b), you’ll find the story of a woman who supports her children’s unwillingness to bow down to idols. Later, a tradition would evolve to name her as Hannah.

You can always go right to the roots of the stories, too! The book of Judith is an apocryphal work that made its way into Jewish sources in the middle ages, when Judith’s character became a subject of discussion in legal works, talmudic commentaries, and liturgical poems. In the book of Maccabees II (7:1-23), you’ll find another story of a woman with seven sons, later associated with Hannah, who stood by her children in the face of religious oppression.

Miracle of Mircales!

What exactly is the nature of the Chanukkah miracle? How should we go about celebrating it? These texts explore those questions and others.

The Chanukkiyah in the Window is a source sheet by seasoned Jewish educator Andrea Olkin about why it’s important not just to light a chanukkiyah, but to make sure its light is seen far and wide. The sheet includes an introduction, sources, and discussion questions.

In Rabbi Joseph Karo’s 16th-century halakhic work, the Shulkhan Arukh, he relates the various customs and laws practiced during Chanukkah in order to celebrate both the Maccabees’ unlikely (and miraculous) victory and Judith’s successful (and miraculous) subterfuge.

What’s the difference between hidden and revealed miracles? In Kedushat Levi, a classic Chasidic text by Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, the author discusses this schema and describes where the Chanukkah miracle fits.

For more resources, feel free to poke around the curated topic pages we’ve put together. That’s where you’ll find sources with helpful headers and synopses. You’ll find a link to relevant source sheets (like Sefaria education’s What is Chanukkah, for example) on the sidebar of the topic page. We recommend exploring Chanukkah, Maccabees, Hasmoneans, Chanukkiah, and Al HaNisim.

And, if you’re adding sources to a Google Doc, don’t forget to install our browser extension! It’s there to streamline any Docs-based projects you may be working on.