Chanukah is usually told as the story of a jar of oil. Yet the oil miracle, beautiful as it is, appears only in the Talmud—recorded centuries after the Maccabean revolt. If we look more closely at the earliest sources, something surprising emerges. Chanukah was once focused not on the menorah, but on the altar.

Each of us will struggle with God, but hang on in your wrestling—don’t let go until you realize the blessing! Be reconciled. If you wronged someone, seek forgiveness; if you were wronged, give forgiveness freely without prompting.

Rosebud was the name of Citizen Kane’s childhood sled, an emblem of simpler days, a symbol of a time when he knew joy, safety, and belonging. What makes that symbol powerful is not its sentimental value. It is what it represents: the longing for a spiritual home.

The relationship between Jacob and Esau is a foundational relationship in the Scriptures: Israel and the Nations in shalom, under one Shepherd, sharing in each other's destinies through humility and turning toward the other.

Sarah is a woman well worth remembering, one who continues to be an example to each generation. Sarah’s story is a picture of what it takes to journey through life as an imperfect human. All the while, we seek God; He knows us, He knows our value to His plan.

If Abraham and Sarah could see our world today, I think they might weep. We’ve traded tents for walls and neighbors for networks. We are more “connected” than any generation before, yet loneliness has become the epidemic of our age.

In the one place where life is lived daily under threat, where rockets, wars, and uncertainty are part of the national daily experience, Israel stands unique among western nations in maintaining a sustainable, even vibrant, birth rate.

Quietly tucked into one of the last verses of Parashat Noach is the template for God’s plan of calling and leadership. It is also a reflection of the enduring concept in Judaism known as l’dor v’dor – from generation to generation.

Another way to translate the opening words of Genesis could be: “With beginnings, God created,” emphasizing that everything in life has a beginning. Although there are times when everything seems to just fall into place, the reality is that most beginnings are not easy.

Every year we have a divinely orchestrated time in which we not only recognize His Presence as our ultimate covering, but we also have the opportunity to sew that beautiful reality into the tapestry of our future generations.