In the past, celebrating Hanukkah in the United Arab Emirates required driving into the desert, erecting a menorah on the sand, and hoping for seclusion. In the distance, camels passed. The community was tiny, cautious, and mostly undetectable. 2010 was the year. Menorahs, blue-and-silver holiday displays, and kosher gift baskets are placed next to checkout…
Being one of the first people on the planet to light a Hanukkah candle every year is subtly amazing. New Zealand’s Jewish community celebrates more than just the Festival of Lights because of the country’s location, which is just west of the International Date Line. They let it open. The menorah flames that flicker to…
Although it has been evident for decades, there is a peculiar imbalance in Hollywood that hardly anyone discusses in public. From Rudolph to The Nightmare, animated holiday entertainment is entirely dominated by Christmas. The other winter holidays hardly make an appearance on the screen, from Christmas to every streaming original that was released in November….
Seeing a hedge fund manager talk about spinning tops with the same seriousness he saves for municipal bonds is almost humorous. However, this is increasingly the case at some auction previews, where a hand-carved wooden dreidel from a Polish shtetl or a 19th-century silver dreidel from Galicia attracts the same level of attention as rare…
There isn’t much competition for the fluorescent lights in the third-floor ward at Columbia Presbyterian. However, on the sixth night of Hanukkah, a string of battery-powered candles was hung along the nurses’ station, and for a brief moment, the hallway appeared almost festive—a description that is rarely associated with a hospital hallway. The party takes…
For many years, Hanukkah has primarily depicted a Hallmark deli owner falling in love with a rival deli owner over a plate of latkes. Although the formula is comfortable and effective, it is somewhat thin. Therefore, it felt more like a statement than a programming quirk when a French film festival recently debuted its first…
There is a particular kind of video that shows up every December: a phone propped against a kitchen window, a menorah catching the last light of dusk, someone narrating the blessing in a half-whisper before the candles take. It looks small. It is not small anymore. Hanukkah, a holiday Jewish tradition has always ranked well…
Somewhere in the arid hills of central Iran, between Yazd and Kerman, the old houses are made of mud brick that is the same color as the ground, and the wind brings dust rather than rain. The majority of these communities are not shown on maps intended for tourists. If they appear at all, it’s…
This December, a head of state standing next to a rabbi and holding a flame to a candle that is taller than both of them has been a recurring image in news feeds. This year, it took place at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. Decades before, it took place outside the White House. The rabbis who initiated…
When a parent uploads a picture of their five-year-old, an algorithm redraws the child standing next to a chanukiah, shamash in hand, sleeves pushed up exactly as in the original image. This is a brief, slightly strange moment. Perhaps ninety seconds pass. The companies developing these products are wagering that if enough families repeat ninety…