What if we approached the New Year in the way a bride approaches her wedding day? We would not have to worry ourselves with well-intentioned New Year resolutions. Instead, we’d simply decide on four things to take into the new year—“something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.”

Most of us are familiar with this traditional English wedding rhyme that dates to the nineteenth century. In its shortened contemporary version (“and a sixpence in her shoe” is seldom used), the rhyme contains the clues to the “four good-luck objects…a bride…

Do you believe in miracles?

At sunset on Sunday, December 22, 2019, Jews will begin the 8-day celebration of Hanukkah. It commemorates the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian Greek army, and the subsequent rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and miracle of the rekindling of its menorah.

The story of Hanukkah is a mixture of history and legend. According to history,
In 167 B.C., a Syrian officer brought an unnamed Jew to the temple [Second Temple] and forced him to make a sacrifice to Zeus. A priest named Mattathias witnessed the event. He slew them …