מי לה’ אלי?: Other Than That, Mrs. Lincoln… The Chanukah Version by Gidon Rothstein

The full line of the quip in the title goes, “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?” and is meant to wryly note some people’s ability to miss the significance of an event—the assassination of a President, in that case– and move on to trivial matters.  I think it a point to keep [...]

Haftarah for Shabbat Hanukkah: Lighting the World by Gidon Rothstein

Zachariah, 2:14-4:7 It seems worth wondering why God decided Hanukkah needed a component of lights, based on the miracle of the cruse of oil.  The essential story of the holiday, after all, could have happened without that, with just the miracle of the military victory followed by the cleansing of the Temple and the restoration [...]

Parshat Miketz: Who was that Man and What did He Say? Anonymous Figures in Sefer Beraishit by Yaakov Bieler

There are a number of anonymous characters that play significant roles in the stories of Beraishit. For example, we know nothing about the identity of the survivor from the wars of the kings that comes to tell Avraham that his nephew Lot has been captured (14:13).  There are apparently at least two individuals that accompany [...]

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