Rabbi's Chayva's Chat

Both the Am Tikvah Retreat and South Africa trip with Rabbi Danny and Ricki have been fantastic successes! I am thrilled that everyone found their experiences to be refreshing, exciting, and meaningful. As the South Africa trip wraps up today, we wish all the travelers a safe and easy trip home.

On the retreat, we had a happy coincidence that our scholar in residence, Dr. Marc Dollinger, is also the Chair of the Board for Camp Newman and shared stories that fostered a feeling of being hosted in a communal home. One example: there is a room called Ruben’s Living Room, a comfy hangout space named after the long-time Executive Director of Camp Newman. One could easily miss the mezuzah on the door, but Marc Dollinger shared how he had given it to Ruben, who affixed it to his door at camp. Ninety percent of Camp Newman’s buildings burned down in the 2017 Tubbs Fire, and little remained of Ruben’s house…except this mezuzah, scorched and broken among the rubble.

It was a tragic coincidence to return from a summer camp that rose from the ashes only to see our friends and family evacuated from wildfires in Los Angeles. Local leaders have made calls for help, and we must answer their call, for as Leviticus 19:16 tells us, “Do not stand by the blood of your neighbor.”

Here are some organizations I recommend:

• LA Fire Department Foundation and CalFire Foundation
• American Red Cross financial donations and disaster deployment volunteer positions
• Direct Relief, sending medical aid
• GoFundMe sites for displaced families

We will stay alert for ways to help Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center, Kehillat Israel in Pacific Palisades, and other Jewish communities who are both giving and receiving much-needed help. If you are praying for those affected by the fire, I offer you this prayer by Joanne Fink.

Finally, please make sure that your go kits are up to date. There are many online resources of what to include, and here is one from Ready.Gov and one from the Red Cross. Be safe and be well.

As the days grow shorter, the glow of Chanukah is just around the corner! Next Wednesday night, we’ll light the first candle, celebrating the miracles of courage, community, and hope that continue to inspire us today.  

I’m thrilled to share that we’ve added a new event to our Chanukah festivities: lighting the South San Francisco Menorah! Join us in the Winter Garden of the Library | Parks & Recreation Center (901 Civic Campus Way, South San Francisco), which is the same location as last year’s event. The city is generously providing donuts, coffee, and a sound system, ensuring Chanukah is honored even though their offices are closed. We’re so grateful for this partnership and look forward to celebrating together.  

Looking ahead, a quick note about services on January 3-4: for those not attending our retreat at Camp Newman, services will be Zoom-only. We’ll ensure a seamless experience for everyone, whether you’re joining us from home or the retreat.  

Finally, I want to add that on Friday night, we will bring some fun new melodies into the service: since we’ll begin Joseph’s story in this week’s Torah portion, we will sing some of Kabbalat Shabbat to the tunes from the musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

Wishing you a Chanukah filled with light, bravery, kindness, and miracles—big and small. And for those in interfaith families or friend groups, a warm and joyful Christmas as well!  

L’chag urim sameach, To a happy holiday of light,

Rabbi Chayva 

This could also be called, “How to stump your friends at holiday trivia!” 

Is Hanukkah a military, religious, or harvest festival? 

All three! Though it depends on which moment in the development of the holiday you’re looking at. 

Hanukkah was originally a military holiday. The land of Israel was ruled by the Seleucid Empire, a Greek state that tried to assimilate its citizens into Hellenistic culture. In an attempt to subdue Jewish resistance, King Antiochus Epiphanes sent soldiers to Jerusalem who wrecked the Temple. The fundamentalist priestly family known as the Hasmoneans or the Maccabees fought back, and of course, they won. Sources dispute whether the 25th of the Hebrew month of Kislev (which we celebrate as the first night of Hanukkah) was the day the Temple was desecrated or the day it was rededicated, but regardless, the Jews instituted a tradition of celebrating its rededication after the war ended.

Several hundred years later, the Temple was fully destroyed by the Romans, and rabbinic Judaism began to develop in earnest. The Babylonian Talmud opens its discussion of Hanukkah with a simple question: “What IS Hanukkah?” As you can see in this paragraph, they recount the military victory, and then add the story of the miracle of the oil. With a divine miracle, Hanukkah became a religious holiday as well.

In response to the initial question, I imagine someone said, "It’s both military and religious, but definitely NOT a harvest festival.” In a way, you’re right. What are we harvesting in mid-winter…potatoes? But why do you think Hanukkah is eight days long? The religious explanation is the eight-day miracle of the oil; the historical explanation is that amidst the fighting, the Jews could not celebrate the major pilgrimage festival of Sukkot. According to the book II Maccabees, Judah Maccabee combined the victory celebration with a delayed Sukkot observance, and so now we celebrate for eight days every year.

What are the books of the Maccabees? Are they in the bible?

There are four books of the Maccabees, and for whether they are in the bible or not, it depends on who you ask. None of them are in the Tanakh, the first two are in the Septuagint (often called the Greek Old Testament, the predecessor to be included in the Catholic bible), and the first three are canonical in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. See here for a handy table. All four books are excluded from the Protestant bible, but are considered Apocrypha (biblical writing that was not included in the bible). 

Each book of Maccabees is slightly different. The first book is a historical account of the political and military events that happened under Antiochus Epiphanes. Based on its content and grammar, it was probably originally written in Hebrew, but the oldest known text is in Greek in the Septuagint. 

The Second Book of Maccabees is also a historical account that focuses on the persecution of the Jews in that period and the Maccabean Revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes. Linguistic analysis shows that it was likely originally written in Greek. 

The Third Book of Maccabees is totally unrelated to the other three books! Originally written in Greek, it recounts Pharaoh Ptolemy IV’s persecution of the Jews in Ptolemaic (Greek-conquered) Egypt around 210 BCE.

The Fourth Book of Maccabees is a Greek philosophical discourse on the power of martyrdom, told through the martyrdom stories of II Maccabees: the woman with seven sons and the scribe Eleazar, whom Antiochus Ephiphanes tortured to death before they would renounce their Jewish identity. IV Maccabees concludes that one should obey halacha even in extreme suffering because martyrs will be rewarded in the afterlife.

What counts as Hanukkah food?

Ashkenazi Jews eat latkes on Hanukkah, as we will at the Chanukah Fair on Sunday! Beyond latkes and sufganiyot (donuts), Jewish communities around the world have their own fried foods to celebrate the miracle of the oil.

Romanian Jews eat papanasi (pronounced “papranash”), which is a doughnut filled with cheese curds and topped with jam and sour cream. Italian Jews make cheese-filled latkes, or fry cheese pancakes. Moroccan Jews make sfinj or sfenj, a simple ring-shaped deep-fried donut dipped in honey or sprinkled with sugar. Sephardic Jews of many regions make bimuelos - also called bunuelos or in Egypt, zalabia - which are Hanukkah fritters that can be made of dough or squash. And have you ever gotten gulab jamun after dinner at an Indian restaurant? Those fried balls of dough are Hanukkah food in the Indian Jewish community!

The list goes on, and there are numerous online articles and recipes if you want to try something new this year. I hope to share a bite with everyone at the Chanukah Fair on Sunday, December 8 and our community candlelighting on Friday, December 27!

On a dark, rainy Wednesday evening, within the stained-glass glow of Congregation Beth Sholom’s chapel, Joey Weisenberg raised his voice and his conducting hand, leading forty congregants and clergy in song. It was a gathering unlike any other: some attendees traveled from as far as Los Gatos and Palo Alto, and this exact group will never come together again. Yet, for two hours, our voices wove together into a singular, organic choir.

Joey is a remarkable musician and teacher, and I’m thrilled Am Tikvah could bring this event to the greater San Francisco Jewish community. More than just an inspiring evening, it was an invitation for us to embrace Joey’s vision of more soulful, participatory singing in our services. Whether through a traditional niggun (wordless melody), a meditative chant, or a Debbie Friedman classic on guitar, the goal is the same: to build the energy in the room until it hums, lifting our hearts through song. If you’re curious to learn how to lead different types of Jewish music—niggunim, nusach, or chant—I encourage you to check out Joey’s online master classes or attend his workshop tonight at Urban Adamah, starting at 7 p.m.

Our congregation contains a spectrum of musical tastes and preferences—more diverse than we often acknowledge. That’s why my biggest takeaway wasn’t just Joey’s ability to weave old and new melodies or his creative renditions of Etz Chaim Hee and Ashrei. What struck me most was his anavah—the humility and openness he brought to the room, creating a space free of judgment.

Joey shared that, after visiting hundreds of synagogues, he’s learned one fundamental truth: everyone is right. Whether you love folksy guitar songs, keening wordless melodies, or anything in between, each expression has a place. When we approach Jewish music with that same openness and curiosity, we, too, can be uplifted and transformed by its beauty.

Am Tikvah, sometimes it’s hard to know what to say. Rabbis trade in words and ideas, and yet the roller coaster of this week has left me empty-handed in some moments and bursting in others.

My experiences in Phoenix, both as a private citizen and as a non-partisan poll chaplain, showed me a part of America that we rarely experience here. Residents felt assaulted by the barrage of door-knocks, text messages, and the walls of campaign posters installed at every street corner. Voters were often confused about when and how they could drop off their ballot or vote in person. But at the polling site where I was placed for chaplaincy, Election Day was beautifully quiet and smooth, and I heard the same from rabbinic poll chaplains across the country. I am grateful and proud that our election was peaceful and democratic.

Upon returning to San Francisco, I found our community experiencing a wide range of feelings, much like I have too. Perhaps, for this week, we can change the trope of “two Jews, three opinions” to “two Jews, three feelings.” Whatever you are feeling, you are welcome and part of Am Tikvah. 

We are entering a time of year in which the days get shorter and the rain starts to come - a time in which seeds are planted, but we will not see them grow for a little while. In this week’s Torah portion, Lech Lecha, God tells Abram (not yet renamed Abraham), “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them. So shall zar’echa, your offspring, be.” The word zar’echa comes from the root זרע zayin-reish-ayin, which means seed. Now is the time for planting seeds of hope, seeds of integrity, seeds of tradition, and seeds of love. As the rains come, those seeds will grow until they outnumber the stars. Shabbat shalom.