יום חמישי י"ח באדר ב תשפ"ד 28/03/2024
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  • The Mission Continues

    As in the past so it remains today - we were and still are under the selfsame commitment to adhere to the directions of the Gedolei Yisrael, who stand guard against breaches of purity threatening our camp. When we were required to ask – we asked. When we were instructed to depart – we left. The moment we are summoned back to raise the flag, every other consideration is pushed to the side and we answer: We are ready!

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בראי היום

  • Harav Yisrael Friedman zy”a, the Rebbe of Husyatin

    מוטי, ויקיפדיה העברית

    The ancestral chain of Harav Yisrael Friedman, the founder of the Husyatin chassidic court, originates with the holy Baal Shem Tov. The Husyatin chassidus has its roots in Galicia and eventually came to Tel Aviv, during the turbulent years between the two World Wars.

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Place

  • Maccabi'im Gravesite

    In honour of Chanukah, we will discuss a fascinating, ongoing investigation attempting to establish the place of burial of Mattisyahu Kohen Gadol and his family.

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In I got It!

Hanukah

Chanukah has many roots that add flavor to the meaning behind the 8 day holiday

N. Lieberman 13/12/2009 08:00

There are two Jewish Festivals which are not mentioned in the Torah but were later added by the sages: Yom Kippur, which was added after the destruction of the First Temple, and Hanukah, which was added during the era of the Second Temple.

The name 'Hanukah' has several meanings, the most famous being that it is an acronym for "Chanu Kaf-Hei"- 'they rested on the twenty eighth', as the People of Israel rested from the war against the Hellenists on the twenty eighth of Kislev.
Additionally, Hanukah is an acronym for "Chet Neirot V'halachah K'beit Hillel" – 'eight candles according to the ruling of Hillel'. Hillel had ruled that each day of Hanukah one candle should be added, resulting in eight candles on the eighth day, as opposed to starting off with eight candles and subtracting one candle every day according to the ruling of Beit Shammai.

Furthermore, Hanukah is named after the "Chanukat Hamizbeiach" – the inauguration of the altar. The Hasmoneans purified the Second Temple which had been desecrated by the Greek, and inaugurated the altar on the twenty eighth of Kislev. (Originally, the inauguration of the altar during the First Temple took place only on the first of Nissan – the birthday of the Forefathers, but the preparations that preceded the inauguration were completed on the twenty eighth of Kislev.)

The essence of Hanukah is that of praise and thanksgiving to the Almighty for the miracle of the last oil cruse found by the Maccabees after purifying the Temple; although it contained only a minimal amount of oil, it sufficed for lighting the golden menorah eight days, until the Maccabees produced new, pure olive oil.

The holiday of Hanukah was actually not established in the year of the miracle, 167 B.C.E \ 3594, but in the following year, since the sages in their wisdom saw that during those days the light of purity will return and glow, as is stated in the Gemara, tractate Sabbath: "They established them for the following year and announced them as days of praise and thanksgiving.