Chanuka Essays

[Reuven Chaim Klein]

Essays on synonyms from my What’s in a Word? series related to Chanuka:

• Olives and Oil - About שמן and יצהר.
• Around in Concentric Circles - About סביב and היקף.
• Holy Priests vs. Unholy Priests - About כהן and כומר.
• Pick your Wax - About דונג, שעוה, קירא and נכאת.
• To Be a Wise Guy (Part 1 | Part 2) - About חכמה, בינה, and דעת.
• Seeking Salvation - About פורקן, תשועה, and הצלה.
• Cans of Oil - About פך, קנקן, חבית and כד.
• The Hebrew Hammers (Part 1 | Part 2) - About מקבת (Maccabee), קורנוס, פטיש הלמות, and ארזפתא. 

Essays on Jewish names from my Names & Numen series related to Chanuka:

• “A Guy Named Chanukah” (2024) — The essay explores the unusual use of Chanukah as a personal name in Jewish history, tracing cases from a 17th-century responsum about a woman called Chanukah to evidence of the name’s use for men in medieval and later Jewish communities, showing how this holiday festal name crossed expected gender boundaries in naming practices.
• “G-d’s Gift” (2025) — Using the Chanukah miracle as a springboard, the article surveys Jewish names that linguistically express the idea of a child as a gift from G-d (such as Matisyahu, Yonasan, Nosson/Nesanel, Netanyahu, and related forms), explaining their biblical roots, theophoric elements, and historical nuances in naming traditions.

Attached are two essays from my kuntres Rokach Tahor that was printed in my sefer לחם ממרחק (published last year Chanuka time) - Available on HebrewBooks.org, Otzar HaChochmah, Amazon, Google Books, H-Commons:

• סימן י"ב: בענין טומאת שאר השמנים בנס חנוכה.
• סימן י"ג: בענין משקי בי מטבחיא דכן בנס חנוכה.

Audio Recordings:

"Chanuka 5781" - A special lecture for students at the Thornhill Torah Education Center - Beis Midrash Maayan HaTorah in Toronto that focuses on why the Yevanim targeted certain Mitzvos to decree against and what their ultimate goal was.

Recordings from my Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer lectures related to Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh and/or Chanuka (available on many platforms including: YouTube, Google Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, TorahDownloads, OUTorah.org, Archive.org):

• Episode 92: Chapter 45a - Receiving the Torah at Sinai = God swears that He will do whatever Moses wants (except for entering the Holy Land & immortality) / The Jews want to imitate Egyptian idolatry (Apis Bull) / Did the Jews intend to replace God or use an intermediary to worship Him? / Chur is Moshe's nephew (son of Miriam & Calev) / What does Efrati mean? / Did Jewish women or Erev Rav women resist giving their jewelry for the Golden Calf? / Rosh Chodesh is a special holiday for women / A minhag that woman don't work on Rosh Chodesh
• Episode 107: Chapter 51a - The Future Messianic Era = Renewing & reconsecrating the Jewish People like the moon / The Davidic Dynasty waxes for 15 generations & then wanes for 15 generations / Unfurling the Heavens like a scroll & like clothes / 7 Cycles of 7,000 Years until the Great Jubilee / The Celestial Bodies will wear out in the future / God renews all of creation every day / The sun bathes in the fires of the Dinor River / The sun will be 49 times stronger / The Korban Mussaf on Shabbos & Rosh Chodesh allude to the future, God's uniqueness & the election of the Jewish People / Bringing a Korban Chatas (Sin-offering) atones for God making the moon smaller / Appeasing those whom we wronged / The Greeks opposed Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh, & Bris Milah because these elements symbolize the Jews' special relationship with Hashem (Zos Chanukah)
• Episode 108: Chapter 51b - The Future Messianic Era = Will the Third Beis HaMikdash come down from Heaven already built or will man need to build it? / A special gate in the Temple only opens on Shabbat & Rosh Chodesh / Kiddush on Shabbos & Rosh Chodesh / A special gate for Hashem that is supposed to remain closed / Only the righteous will be renewed / Ezekiel sees a river flowing from the future Temple in Jerusalem / Sweeting the Salt Water Seas 

Happy Hanuka!

Reuven Chaim Klein

Beitar Illit, Israel

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