Need a last-minute Hanukkah present for the technology-lover in your life?

Growing up in the Reform community in the US in the 50s and 60s, I remember the constant discussions of the Chanukah-Christmas dilemma. Was it possible to disengage Chanukah from the seasonal linkage to Christmas, and keep it somehow true to its roots? Or was it doomed to be "the Jewish answer to Christmas," which increasingly meant an orgy of shopping and materialism? 

I’m pretty sure my family coined the term Christmukkah. We were interfaith hipsters, once we realized that the alternative, Festivus, wasn’t really for the restofus.

The holiday of Hanukkah begins this Wednesday night. In Israel, interactive billboards in Jerusalem light up hanukkiyot, adding another candle every night of the holiday. The marketplace smells of sufganiyot, doughnuts filled with jelly, and children gather to

There has been a great deal of interest surrounding the unusual confluence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah this year.

While there are numerous customs and traditions associated with celebrating Hanukkah at home, there is not necessarily one right way to celebrate the Festival of Lights.

The only obligation we have as Jews is to kindle our hanukkiyot (Hanukkah menorah).

Anyone who has visited my home or my office knows that I have a rather large collection of Hanukkah menorahs. It is not a collection that any museum would covet – just a lot of contemporary, fun menorahs from all sorts of stores, ranging from the Shalom House to Bed, Bath and Beyond and more. With such a collection one might think that Hanukkah was an important holiday in my home – as a child and today.

Are all Hanukkah tales true? Of course - because a narrative can contain truth even if it defies belief. In that spirit, let me share one of my own Hanukkah stories.

Early in my rabbinate, when I served as a rabbi in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., my phone would

Thanksgivukkah, the amazing confluence of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving, is all the rage this year. Manischewitz is promoting their products with it, specialty websites are blooming, and creative articles abound.