Ep. 429: What Is Chanukah’s Message For Us Today?

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics: Chassidus Applied to Chanukah How does Chanukah personify eternity? What is Chanukah’s message for us today? Which miracle is greater – winning the war against the Greeks or discovering the oil? Why is the number eight so significant to Chanukah? Would the miracle be less if the flames burned, say, for six days? Why is the Menorah on the left side? What is a short synopsis of the Alter Rebbes maamar Ki Ner Mitzah in Torah Ohr where he explains why we put the mezuzah on the right and the menorah on the left? Why do we light the Menorah facing outside and after sundown, unlike the Menorah in the Temple? Why don’t we light a flame every day? Why can’t we use bulbs for the Chanukah lights? Is Yud Tes Kislev connected with Chanukah? Is there a connection between Chanukah and the yeshiva students of Tomchei Temimim being called lamplighters? How do we apply the lessons of Chanukah in the winter to the Southern Hemisphere? Are women included in the mitzvah of Chanukah? What is the concept of the shamesh of the menorah according to chassidus? Why don't we have a shamesh for shabbos candles? Are we allowed to read the book of the maccabees? Why are we allowed to use a dreidel considering that its origins are from a spinning top, called a teetotum, used in a pagan gambling game? Is there a significance that the letters on a dreidel nun gimmel hey shin are gematria 358 which is the same gematria as Moshiach? Can spinning a dreidel for fun somehow make Moshiach come faster? How can eating a meal be an offering to G-d? How do I keep my eye on a destination which I don’t know? Follow-up: Why do I ask irreverent questions? Vayeishev: Were the ten martyrs punished for Joseph’s ten brothers selling him into slavery?