For the past eight days, Jews around the world have been publicizing the Chanukah miracle. But when it comes to getting the world excited about the Maccabees, no one does that better than Akiva Poppers. “It’s the ultimate underdog story,” proclaims Poppers. But Poppers isn’t just talking about the ancient Maccabees. Poppers is the voice […]
The table used by the heroic Hasid Joseph Gluck last Chanukah, to stop a horrific stabbing attack that wounded five and killed one, was remade into a dreidel-shaped menorah stand to commemorate the miracle of many more lives being saved. Gluck, who was presented with the New York State Senate Liberty Medal soon after, famously […]
Esther Altura, who moved to Israel from Los Angeles, is the co-founder of DrizzleX, which develops solutions for water conservation. While she once struggled to find funding, her participation in Proptech Zone’s accelerator has led to an NIS 1.6 million ($500,000) investment from Israel Investment Fund Group. “For Israelis, water conservation is in our DNA,” […]
14-year-old Dvora Polak, an avid musician who has been homebound for several years due to a rare condition, was excited to perform before a large virtual audience at Chai Lifeline’s Chanukah Gala. She says that she was shocked by a “wonderful surprise” when Kenny G and Andrea Bocelli, among other famous names in the music […]
We always focus on the obvious miracles of Chanukah: the miraculous military victory of a small band of fighters against a might army, the fact that the Maccabees found a small jar of oil in the rubble of the Holy Temple and that that oil burned for eight days, when it should have only lasted […]
What’s the purpose of a miracle? There are of course many answers, including those that are specific to the particular miracle in question. For instance, I recently learned how Abarbanel (15th-century Portuguese commentator) explains the purpose of one particular miraculous moment in the Book of Judges. In Judges Chapter 13, a malach appears to the […]
