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Nov 29, 2021

How Much Light? A Channukah Meditation

How Much Light? 
A Channukah Meditation
© Rabbi Menachem Creditor
"תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: מִצְוַת חֲנוּכָּה, נֵר אִישׁ וּבֵיתוֹ. וְהַמְהַדְּרִין, נֵר לְכׇל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד. וְהַמְהַדְּרִין מִן הַמְהַדְּרִין, בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים: יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן מַדְלִיק שְׁמֹנָה, מִכָּאן וְאֵילָךְ פּוֹחֵת וְהוֹלֵךְ. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים: יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן מַדְלִיק אַחַת, מִכָּאן וְאֵילָךְ מוֹסִיף וְהוֹלֵךְ. …"
"The Sages taught: The basic mitzvah of Channukah is each day to have one light kindled per household. And the "mehadrin" (beautifiers of tradition) kindle a light for each and every one in the household. And the "mehadrin min hamehadrin" (extreme beautifiers) adjust the number of lights daily. Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel disagree as to the nature of that adjustment: Beit Shammai begins with eight lights and decreases each night. Beit Hillel begins with one light and adds one each night…" (TB Shabbat 21b) Perhaps we aren't so different from our early teachers as we might have thought, neither in the questions we ask nor in the responses we generate. How much light is sufficient? One light that can pierce the darkness. But the world deserves more than the minimum. Every person contains light within themselves, and sharing it is beautiful. But really, it's even better than that. Some of us feel inner illumination from the start, and some build our way into that inner light. Some of us feel just a small inner space where the light lives and release more and more of it each day. Because we all do our work in the world, there's abundance in the beginning and there's abundance in the end. You are bathed in light. We are enough for this world. There is beauty ahead. ___ art: A Candle Light, Jonathan Manning
fineartamerica.com/featured/a-candle-light-jonathan-manning.html

Nov 17, 2021

Nov 12, 2021

This is my grandfather, my Sabbah Tzvi, Henry Creditor z”l


This is my grandfather, my Sabbah Tzvi, Henry Creditor z”l, wearing an Eisenhauer jacket sometime in 1943.

Drafted in ‘43 to the US Army’s Tank Destroyer Battalion, he and my grandmother were married while he was on furlough from Fort Jackson, South Carolina. (My grandmother likely saved his life when she pressured him to request a transfer to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. His original unit was defeated at the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium.) His military career led him to Texas, then to California, where he was eventually deployed overseas to the Philippines in the beginning of 1945. He served in the Liberating Army of the Philippines and began training there for the invasion of Japan. On August 6, 1945, the American bomber Enola Gay dropped a five-ton bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. For the next six months, my grandfather served in the Occupation Army in Japan, after which he was honorably discharged and returned home to New York in early 1946.

I bless my Sabbah’s memory and am grateful for his model of service. I bless all our Veterans, and pray for peace, for a time when war is only a thing of the past.

#VeteransDay 
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Nov 9, 2021

A Year of Torah - in my hands


I'm overwhelmed. Holding my first Hardcover book, sensing its beautiful weight, feeling more deeply connected than before to our People's heart. This Torah commentary was born within holy community. I pray the intentional comfort and hope on these pages comes through. Holy One, Thank You for this moment. #AYearOfTorah

Yes, You Can Be a Progressive Zionist! Nov 16, 7:30

Thrilled to be in conversation with Rep. Alma Hernandez, Congressman Ritchie Torres, & Tremayne B. Smith in this upcoming episode of Conversations on Zionism with Jewish National Fund - USA! What an important topic! Watch it live on November 16 at 7:30 pm ET by registering at jnf.org/convos #Progressive #Zionism




Nov 7, 2021

Not sure Amazon really 'gets it,' but all the same... yay!



Not sure Amazon really 'gets it,' but all the same... yay! 

Get your copy of A Year of Torah here:

Nov 2, 2021

Wednesday, Nov. 17 @ 6pm, Join the Launch of A Year of Torah!


Friends, I'm thrilled to invite you to join this special event, cosponsored by
UJA-Federation of New York and The Jewish Week! Wednesday, Nov. 17 @ 6pm, I will be in conversation with my colleagues and teachers, Rabbi Deborah Joselow and Rabbi Isaiah J. Rothstein, sharing Torah and discussing my new book! Hope you can join us! Menachem

Get your copy of A Year of Torah here: