A Special Chanukah Gift

Posted on Wednesday, 5, December, 2018Tuesday, 20, September, 2022 by Rabbi

For this child I prayed; and the L-rd has granted me the petition that I made to him. (I Samuel 1:27)

Chanukah is a time to celebrate the freedom of faith. A war was fought to defend the right just to remain true to Judaism over 2100 years ago. Today we accept the basic story of Chanukah, but have forgotten the many miracles. The wonders and beauty of faith are many times overlooked, but they are present at all times.

On the third day of Hanukkah, there was a bris (circumcision) in the small wooden shul. The rabbi was the sandak—being honored to hold the baby on his lap—and he told a story at the bris.

A woman who was married for fifteen years and was not blessed with children. She went from rabbi to rabbi, from tzaddik to tzaddik, from one to the other to ask for a blessing, for them to pray for her, but still she had no child. She did not know what to do with herself.

She was very careful to light the Shabbos candles every week, welcoming the holiness of the day into her house. There was always food in her kitchen for those less fortunate. Her bright smile hid the pain and sadness that was deep in her heart.

Without children, she had a lot of time, and so she helped wherever she could. One day she discovered a woman who was sick and all alone, who had nobody in the world. She started to visit the sick woman, prepared food for her and talked to her for hours.

After two years, the sick woman left this world, and the woman without children was with her when she died. The dying woman said to her, “There’s no way for me to thank you in this lifetime for all the kindness and love you showed me. I promise you, the moment I go up to heaven and stand before the Holy One Blessed be He, I swear to you I will send you a baby.”

“That was almost a year ago and today we are gathered here for such a happy and holy occasion”, the rabbi continued, “The baby we just welcomed into the community is that baby. He is a gift from that woman.”

May your Chanukah lights shine bright with hope and blessings

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

Click here for more storytelling resources

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)

Rachmiel Tobesman is a motivational speaker and Maggid (spiritual Storyteller). He is available for speaking engagements or storytelling, Click here to contact us

Please share this story with family and friends and let us know what you think or feel about the stories in a comment or two. Like us on Facebook or tweet us on Twitter

If the stories are not shared they will be lost.

Please share this story with others

The Season of Lights – Chanukah is coming very quickly as it begins at Sundown on November 28, 2021. Most people in the Jewish communities throughout the world can rattle off a list of Chanukah traditions such as lighting the menorah each night; playing dreidel games; eating foods cooked in oil (latkes and Sufganiot); and exchanging gifts.

An age old tradition is telling stories in the glow of the Chanukah menorah. The stories tell of greatness, nobility, and wisdom while at the same time raising the hopes for a better tomorrow.

The very backdrop to the spiritual stories is attractive to its readers allowing one to peek into the beliefs, and lifestyles of a vanishing age of a faraway world and reminding them that the messages are eternal – just as strong today as they were yesterday.

The book, Story Tour: The Journey Begins will remind readers of forgotten stories of faith that strengthen and reaffirm hope for a better world.

Buy a copy of Story Tour: The Journey Begins as a gift for someone special today. Story Tour: The Journey Begins is available from the publisher, Xlibris or Booksamillion, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

The Blind Angel

Posted on Sunday, 2, December, 2018Monday, 11, December, 2023 by Rabbi

The holy rabbi was always collecting donations to help those less fortunate. In one village there was a very wealthy merchant who was a collector of rare and precious religious objects. The merchant was so wealthy that he even owned his own scroll of the Torah, which was prominently displayed in an Ark that had been built into a wall of his living room. The wealthy merchant’s name was Avram Moshe

Once the holy rabbi came to pay the wealthy merchant a visit, and Avram Moshe was beside himself with joy, proudly showing off his precious objects to the holy rabbi. Each time the holy rabbi seemed pleased by a particular object, Avram Moshe had it wrapped and placed in a crate for the rabbi to take back with him.

Before long the crate was almost filled with silver goblets, embroidered matzah and challah covers, and other precious treasures of Avram Moshe, and at last the rabbi rose to take his leave, thanking Avram Moshe for his generosity. At that moment the rabbi’s eye fell on a beautiful antique silver menorah, one of Avram Moshe’s most prized possessions. For a long time the rabbi stared at that menorah, and Avram Moshe and everyone else clearly saw that he desired it, yet Avram Moshe could not bring himself to offer it, for it was a priceless heirloom.

Finally the holy rabbi broke the silence, asking, as a special favor, for the silver menorah. Everyone watched Avram Moshe closely, for they knew how much he prized that menorah, and they saw that he was struggling with himself. At last Avram Moshe ordered his servant to wrap the menorah, place it with the other gifts, and carry the crate to the rabbi’s carriage.

When they returned home, the rabbi had the crate opened, and displayed all of the gifts he had received from Avram Moshe except for the silver menorah, which was put in a closet unopened. No one understood why the holy rabbi had asked for the silver menorah or why he did not display or use it, No one dared to question the holy rabbi.

Many years passed, and Avram Moshe left for the world of truth, and as it is with matters of time, eventually silver menorah in the closet was forgotten. Ten years went by and on the first night Chanukah, the holy rabbi had the menorah brought out of storage and prepared for lighting. As the flames burned brightly, reflected in the polished silver of the menorah, the holy rabbi shared a story:

“This menorah once belonged to a Jewish tailor, Chaim Tzvi, who was a rich man for most of his life but then fell upon hard times. Avram Moshe had desired this menorah for many years and often tried to purchase it, but no matter how much he offered, Chaim Tzvi refused to sell it, for this menorah had been in his family for many generations. However, when his situation grew desperate, Chaim Tzvi went to Avram Moshe for a loan. Avram Moshe agreed to give him a generous loan, with the silver menorah to serve as security. Sadly, when the loan was due, Chaim Tzvi could not repay it, and accordingly he had to abandon the menorah to Avram Moshe.

“Now, as we know, every good deed creates an angel, but if a deed is imperfect, it produces an imperfect angel. In giving Chaim Tzvi a loan, Avram Moshe did a good deed, and therefore an angel came into being. However, because his intentions were not completely pure, Avram Moshe’s angel was blind.

“After his death, Avram Moshe was brought before the Heavenly Court. His good deeds and bad deeds were weighed, and they balanced exactly. All at once the blind angel took its place on the right side of the scale, and it tipped in Avram Moshe’s favor. Seeing this, the Heavenly Court ruled that Avram Moshe might be permitted to enter Gan Eden (Paradise), but since his margin was so narrow, he would have to be led there by the blind angel.

“Ever since then, Avram Moshe and the blind angel have wandered, and his soul has found no rest. For the blind angel could not find the way to Gan Eden. Without some special merit, his soul would have continued to wander for many years to come. But tonight the light of this menorah reached all the way to the highest heavens, restoring the angel’s sight, and making it possible for the angel to lead Avram Moshe’s soul to its resting place in Gan Eden.

“Now you know why, long ago, I asked Avram Moshe for his menorah. For it was the merit of this gift that he needed in order to repair the eyesight of the angel. I never used it until now, as I was waiting for the right moment. Last night, I saw Avram Moshe, led by the blind angel, in a dream. From this I knew that they were close, and tonight, as the holy light from the menorah ascended, that they were passing over. Now Avram Moshe is basking in the sacred light of Gan Eden.”

May your Chanukah lights shine bright

and

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

Click here for more storytelling resources

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

Click here for more storytelling resources

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)

Rachmiel Tobesman is a motivational speaker and Maggid (spiritual Storyteller). He is available for speaking engagements or storytelling, Click here to contact us

Please share this story with family and friends and let us know what you think or feel about the stories in a comment or two.

Like us on Facebook or tweet us on Twitter

If the stories are not shared they will be lost.

Please share this story with others

Most people in the Jewish communities throughout the world can rattle off a list of Chanukah traditions such as lighting the menorah each night; playing dreidel games; eating foods cooked in oil (latkes and Sufganiot); and exchanging gifts.

An age old tradition is telling stories in the glow of the Chanukah menorah. The stories tell of greatness, nobility, and wisdom while at the same time raising the hopes for a better tomorrow.

The very backdrop to the spiritual stories is attractive to its rMeaders allowing one to peek into the beliefs, and lifestyles of a vanishing age of a faraway world and reminding them that the messages are eternal – just as strong today as they were yesterday.

The book, Story Tour: The Journey Begins will remind readers of forgotten stories of faith that strengthen and reaffirm hope for a better world.

Buy a copy of Story Tour: The Journey Begins as a gift for someone special today. Story Tour: The Journey Begins is available from the publisher, Xlibris, Booksamillion, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

Oil, Wicks and the Cave of Matisyahu

Posted on Thursday, 29, December, 2016Wednesday, 21, September, 2022 by Rabbi

In a nearby village there was a merchant who would carefully select olives and press them into oil and bring it to the holy rabbi, and the rabbi would use it to light his menorah. The merchant did this for many years.

One year the winter was hard, the snow blew everywhere, and travel was just about impossible. The eve of Chanukah arrived and the merchant was still planning to deliver the fresh pressed oil. His family pleaded with him not to go, but he was determined, and in the end he set out across the deep snow.

That morning he entered the forest that separated his village from the village where the holy rabbi lived, and the moment he did, it began to snowheavily. The wind blew strong and the snow fell so fast that it covered every landmark, and when at last it stopped, the merchant found that he was lost. The whole world was covered with snow

Now the merchant began to regret not listening to his family. Surely the holy rabbi would have forgiven his absence. Meanwhile, it had become so cold that he began to fear he might freeze. He realized that if he were to die there in the forest, he might not even be buried in a Jewish way. That is when he remembered the oil he was carrying. In order to save his life, he would have to use it. There was no other choice.

As quickly as his numb fingers could move, he tore some of the lining out of his coat and fashioned it into a wick, and he put that wick into the snow. Then he poured oil on it and prayed with great intensity. Finally, he lit the first light of Chanukah, and the flame seemed to light up the whole forest. It seemed that even the wolves saw that light and lifted their heads in song..

After this the exhausted Merchant lay down on the snow and fell asleep. He dreamed he was walking in a warm land, and before him he saw a great mountain, and next to that mountain stood a palm tree. At the foot of the mountain was the opening of a cave. In the dream, the merchant entered the cave and found a lamp burning there. He picked up that lamp, and it lit the way for him until he came to a large cavern, where an old man with a very long beard was seated. There was a sword on his thigh, and his hands were busy making wicks. All of that cavern was piled high with bundles of wicks. The old man looked up when the merchant entered and said: “Shalom Aleichem (Peace be unto you).”

The merchant answered, ”Aleichem Shalom (Unto you peace).” and asked him who he was. He answered: “I am Matisyahu, father of the Maccabees. During my lifetime I lit a big torch. I hoped that all of Israel would join me, but only a few answered my call. Now heaven has sent me to watch for the little lamps in the houses of Israel to come together to form a very big flame will announce the Time of Peace that we are all waiting for.”

“Meanwhile, I prepare the wicks for the day when everyone will contribute his light to this great flame. And now, there is something you must do for me. When you reach the holy rabbi, tell him that the wicks are ready, and he should do whatever he can to light the flame that we have awaited so long.”

Amazed at all he had heard, the merchant promised to give the message to the rabbi. As he turned to leave the cave, he awoke and found himself standing in front of the holy rabbi’s house. Just then the rabbi himself opened the door, and his face was glowing. He said: “The power of lighting the Chanukah menorah is very great. Whoever dedicates his soul to this deed brings the Time of Peace that much closer.” (Shabbos 21b)

May your oil burn clean, warm your soul and shine bright with the light of Shalom (peace)

Click here for more storytelling resources

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3) Please share this story with family and friends and let us know what you feel about the stories in a comment or two. Like us on Facebook

The Season of Lights – Chanukah is coming very quickly as it begins at Sundown

on November 28, 2021. Most people in the Jewish communities throughout the world can rattle off a list of Chanukah traditions such as lighting the menorah each night; playing dreidel games; eating foods cooked in oil (latkes and Sufganiot); and exchanging gifts.

An age old tradition is telling stories in the glow of the Chanukah menorah. The stories tell of greatness, nobility, and wisdom while at the same time raising the hopes for a better tomorrow.

The very backdrop to the spiritual stories is attractive to its readers allowing one to peek into the beliefs, and lifestyles of a vanishing age of a faraway world and reminding them that the messages are eternal – just as strong today as they were yesterday.

The book, Story Tour: The Journey Begins will remind readers of forgotten stories of faith that strengthen and reaffirm hope for a better world.

Buy a copy of Story Tour: The Journey Begins as a gift for someone special today. Story Tour: The Journey Begins is available from the publisher, Xlibris, Booksamillion, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

The Mystery of the Dreidel

Posted on Sunday, 28, December, 2008Tuesday, 5, December, 2023 by Rabbi

A 14-year-old in a religious school class was curious and asked about the dreidel, and the teacher merely explained it as a game played on Chanukah. The teacher went on to explain the letters nun, gimel, hay, shin were to remind us that Nes Gadol Haya Sham – A great miracle happened there. A remembrance of the miracles of the small army that turned over the massive, well-trained Syrian-Greek armies.

The student looked and asked, “What does this have to do with being Jewish?” He was truly looking for a spiritual meaning to the dreidel. He could not accept that this gambling game had anything to do with Yiddishkeit – Judaism.

Perhaps if the teacher had explained that the dreidel represents each Jewish person and the letters teach that though life spins about that all parts of a person must grow also. The nun is for nefesh – the soul – which strives for high and higher meaning, the gimmel is for guf – the body – which needs to be kept healthy and strong, the shin is for sechel – mind – that seeks and learns, and the hay is for Hakol – everything – together makes up each person.

Some rabbis connected the four letters with the four exiles of the Jewish people — Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome.

The Babylonians came and destroyed the Beis haMikdah (the Holy Temple in Jerusalem) and exiled the Jewish people. The Beis haMikdash represents a unique channel between Hashem (G-d) and Man. When it was destroyed, this flow of spiritual energy was severed. The level of this connection is linked to the word “nefesh” – soul (“When a soul will bring an offering”…Leviticus 2:1). Nefesh begins with the letter nun, and nun represents the kingdom of Babylon.

We learn from the story of Esther, that Haman wanted to physically destroy the Jewish people. The exile of Persia and Media represents the threat to the “guf” – the body of the Jewish People, the physical threat of annihilation. Guf begins with gimel which stands for the kingdom of Persia and Media.

Greece, on the other hand, represents the attack on the Torah itself – the sechel – the wisdom of Israel. The Syrian-Greeks weren’t interested in the physical destruction of the Jewish People; rather they wanted to destroy the spiritual basis of Judaism – the Torah – and leave a Hellenized shell that would agree with the Greek norms of aesthetics – drama, philosophy, and art. Sechel begins with the letter shin – that’s the letter of the kingdom of Greece.

The fourth kingdom, Rome, is a summation of all the other exiles. At the beginning of their domination, the Romans, like the Babylonians, stopped the bringing of offerings in the Temple. Then, they destroyed the second Holy Temple and inflicted unthinkable bloodshed on the “guf”, the body of Jewish People. Rome is all the exiles rolled into one and thus it is represented by the Hebrew word “HaKol which begins with hay” meaning “all”.

Let us all grow in wisdom, strong in spirit, and healthy in body.

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

Click here for more storytelling resources

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)

Rachmiel Tobesman is a motivational speaker and Maggid (spiritual Storyteller). He is available for speaking engagements or storytelling, Click here to contact us

Please share this story with family and friends and let us know what you think or feel about the stories in a comment or two.

Like us on Facebook or tweet us on Twitter

If the stories are not shared they will be lost.

Please share this story with others

The Season of Lights – Chanukah is coming very quickly as it begins at Sundown On December 18, 2022.

Most people in the Jewish communities throughout the world can rattle off a list of Chanukah traditions such as lighting the menorah each night; playing dreidel games; eating foods cooked in oil (latkes and Sufganiot); and exchanging gifts.

An age old tradition is telling stories in the glow of the Chanukah menorah. The stories tell of greatness, nobility, and wisdom while at the same time raising the hopes for a better tomorrow.

The very backdrop to the spiritual stories is attractive to its readers allowing one to peek into the beliefs, and lifestyles of a vanishing age of a faraway world and reminding them that the messages are eternal – just as strong today as they were yesterday.

The book, Story Tour: The Journey Begins will remind readers of forgotten stories of faith that strengthen and reaffirm hope for a better world.

Buy a copy of Story Tour: The Journey Begins as a gift for someone special today. Story Tour: The Journey Begins is available from the publisher, Xlibris, Booksamillion, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

Chanukah: The Dedication of Jewish Women

Posted on Wednesday, 24, December, 2008Wednesday, 10, November, 2021 by Rabbi

My daughter questions everything and seeks answers that are sometimes very elusive. She has become frustrated over the apparent hypocrisy of many religious people. She feels it is hard to assert her individuality in a society with so many demands (how to dress, how to eat, how to communicate, etc).

I have told her many times that women are special in the Jewish community, but she often counters that all there is, is chauvinism and foolish limitations. It seems that the prevailing attitudes in our culture have replaced the long history of learning and teaching.

Chanukah is a holiday that is celebrated due to the sacrifices and deeds of women.

Who preserved and nurtured the Jewish tradition from generation to generation? Whose unwritten wisdom upheld it? The first response of many would probably be “the Rabbis.” A more careful, more thoughtful answer would be “the women.”

The hard to define aspects of Jewish tradition and way of life-the feel of it, the smells of a home, the part that cannot be captured in words, that remain unwritten but lasting -were for generations due to the sacrifices and deeds of Jewish women. Their wisdom has molded and defined the character of Jewish life. We find this throughout our history and teachings. We also find it in the Chanukah story, in the remarkable characters of Chana and Yehudis.

One of the major victories over the Syrian-Greeks came about through the heroism of a woman. Yehudis, daughter of Yochanan the High Priest, spoke to the people in her besieged city to have faith in the Holy One, blessed be H, but the people weakened by starvation and fear wanted to surrender the city. Yehudis left the city under the cover of night and went to the commanding general, Holofrenes, and first fed him cheese dishes which made him thirsty (the source for eating dairy foods on Chanukah). She then brought him wine to quench his thirst. When he became drunk and fell asleep, she beheaded him and hung it from the city walls. When the enemy soldiers saw the head of their decapitated leader, they fled.

The Syrian-Greeks and their supporters, tried to destroy the Jewish way of life by forcing people to abandoned their Judaism. Chana had seven sons each were brought before Antiochus and told to bow to him and recognize his god. Each son refused. As the last of her sons was taken to be executed she told him, “My son, go and tell your father Abraham: You bound one son upon the altar; I bound seven children on seven altars.”

The legacy Jewish women represent continues wherever the Jewish tradition is guided, enriched, and uplifted by her daughters, the bearers of Judaism’s enduring legacy.

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

Click here for more storytelling resources

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)

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Rachmiel Tobesman is a motivational speaker and Maggid (spiritual Storyteller). He is available for speaking engagements or storytelling, Click here to contact us

Please share this story with family and friends and let us know what you think or feel about the stories in a comment or two. Like us on Facebook or tweet us on Twitter

If the stories are not shared they will be lost.

Please share this story with others

The Season of Lights – Chanukah is coming very quickly as it begins at Sundown

on November 28, 2021. Most people in the Jewish communities throughout the world can rattle off a list of Chanukah traditions such as lighting the menorah each night; playing dreidel games; eating foods cooked in oil (latkes and Sufganiot); and exchanging gifts.

An age old tradition is telling stories in the glow of the Chanukah menorah. The stories tell of greatness, nobility, and wisdom while at the same time raising the hopes for a better tomorrow.

The very backdrop to the spiritual stories is attractive to its readers allowing one to peek into the beliefs, and lifestyles of a vanishing age of a faraway world and reminding them that the messages are eternal – just as strong today as they were yesterday.

The book, Story Tour: The Journey Begins will remind readers of forgotten stories of faith that strengthen and reaffirm hope for a better world.

Buy a copy of Story Tour: The Journey Begins as a gift for someone special today. Story Tour: The Journey Begins is available from the publisher, Xlibris, Booksamillion, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

Chanuka and the Fighters

Posted on Tuesday, 23, December, 2008Wednesday, 10, November, 2021 by shana

When my father was younger he wrote for a lot of newspapers throughout the country. I think his articles are pretty good and makes one think. Here’s an excerpt from an article from 1984 that was in the Jewish Press.

Chanukah and the Fighters

The celebration of Chanukah each year holds a message for the Jewish people throughout the world. A small group of Jewish rebels led by the Maccabees rose up against the superior Hellenistic armies. The military victories of the Jewish people against the threats of religious suppression ensured the freedom to practice Judaism and the rededication of the Holy Temple in Yerushelayim.

The threat of Roman tyranny and paganism was challenged by Judea. The revolt against Rome lasted well over one hundred years before the Jewish fighters of Masada and Beitar fell in battle and the Jewish people forced into. exile.

Many believe that the Jewish fighting spirit disappeared at. Betar. Some believe that with exile the Jewish people became fatalistic, and had no spirit. Religious martyrdom, flight and going like sheep to the slaughter commonly describe the reaction of the Jewish people to persecution until the twentieth century.

The Jewish fighter survived the Roman onslaught and championed Jewish causes many times throughout history. (the article talks about fights against Persia, Spain, and Crusaders. My father told about Jewish soldiers of the Khazar Empire, Berbers, Babylon and others)

And so the mighty tradition continues up until our own days. Yehuda HaMaccabee and his brothers fought the Hellenistic threat to the Jewish people over twenty one centuries ago. Whenever the Jewish people have been threatened the fighters have risen. The Jewish people have never been a fatalistic people who went like sheep to the slaughter.

On Chanuka, while we celebrate the victories of the Maccabees let us remember other heroes who rose to the threat of prejudice and hatred against the Jewish people.

The complete article is powerful and I wish he would write articles again.

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

Click here for more storytelling resources

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Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)

Rachmiel Tobesman is a motivational speaker and Maggid (spiritual Storyteller). He is available for speaking engagements or storytelling, Click here to contact us

Please share this story with family and friends and let us know what you think or feel about the stories in a comment or two. Like us on Facebook or tweet us on Twitter

If the stories are not shared they will be lost.

Please share this story with others

Please share these gifts of wonderful stories with others and start or join a discussion on the Story Tour Blog about the stories.

The Story Tour Blog has grown to over 400 short stories about faith. Many visitors to the Story Tour Blog have requested that the stories be gathered together into a book. 72 of these special tales are now available in the new book, Story Tour: The Journey Begins that would make a special gift for Chanukah

The Season of Lights – Chanukah is coming very quickly as it begins at Sundown on November 28, 2021.

The very backdrop to the spiritual stories is attractive to its readers allowing one to peek into the beliefs, and lifestyles of a vanishing age of a faraway world and reminding them that the messages are eternal – just as strong today as they were yesterday.

The book, Story Tour: The Journey Begins will remind readers of forgotten stories of faith that strengthen and reaffirm hope for a better world.

Buy a copy of Story Tour: The Journey Begins as a gift for someone special today. Story Tour: The Journey Begins is available from the publisher, Xlibris, Booksamillion, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

For this child I prayed; and the L-rd has granted me the petition that I made to him. (I Samuel 1:27)

On the third day of Hanukkah, there was a bris (circumcision) in the small wooden shul. The rabbi was the sandak—being honored to hold the baby on his lap—and he told a story at the bris.

A woman who was married for fifteen years and was not blessed with children. She went from rabbi to rabbi, from tzaddik to tzaddik, from one to the other to ask for a blessing, for them to pray for her, but still she had no child. She did not know what to do with herself.

She was very careful to light the Shabbos candles every week, welcoming the holiness of the day into her house. There was always food in her kitchen for those less fortunate. Her bright smile hid the pain and sadness that was deep in her heart.

Without children, she had a lot of time, and so she helped wherever she could. One day she discovered a woman who was sick and all alone, who had nobody in the world. She started to visit the sick woman, prepared food for her and talked to her for hours.

“That was almost a year ago and today we are gathered here for such a happy and holy occasion”, the rabbi continued, “The baby we just welcomed into the community is that baby. He is a gift from that woman.”

May your Chanukah lights shine bright with hope and blessings

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)

Rachmiel Tobesman is a motivational speaker and Maggid (spiritual Storyteller). He is available for speaking engagements or storytelling, Click here to contact us

Please share this story with family and friends and let us know what you think or feel about the stories in a comment or two. Like us on Facebook or tweet us on Twitter

If the stories are not shared they will be lost.

Please share this story with others

An age old tradition is telling stories in the glow of the Chanukah menorah. The stories tell of greatness, nobility, and wisdom while at the same time raising the hopes for a better tomorrow.

The very backdrop to the spiritual stories is attractive to its readers allowing one to peek into the beliefs, and lifestyles of a vanishing age of a faraway world and reminding them that the messages are eternal – just as strong today as they were yesterday.

The book, Story Tour: The Journey Begins will remind readers of forgotten stories of faith that strengthen and reaffirm hope for a better world.

Buy a copy of Story Tour: The Journey Begins as a gift for someone special today. Story Tour: The Journey Begins is available from the publisher, Xlibris or Booksamillion, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

May your Chanukah lights shine bright

and

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)

Rachmiel Tobesman is a motivational speaker and Maggid (spiritual Storyteller). He is available for speaking engagements or storytelling, Click here to contact us

Please share this story with family and friends and let us know what you think or feel about the stories in a comment or two.

Like us on Facebook or tweet us on Twitter

If the stories are not shared they will be lost.

Please share this story with others

Most people in the Jewish communities throughout the world can rattle off a list of Chanukah traditions such as lighting the menorah each night; playing dreidel games; eating foods cooked in oil (latkes and Sufganiot); and exchanging gifts.

An age old tradition is telling stories in the glow of the Chanukah menorah. The stories tell of greatness, nobility, and wisdom while at the same time raising the hopes for a better tomorrow.

The very backdrop to the spiritual stories is attractive to its rMeaders allowing one to peek into the beliefs, and lifestyles of a vanishing age of a faraway world and reminding them that the messages are eternal – just as strong today as they were yesterday.

The book, Story Tour: The Journey Begins will remind readers of forgotten stories of faith that strengthen and reaffirm hope for a better world.

Buy a copy of Story Tour: The Journey Begins as a gift for someone special today. Story Tour: The Journey Begins is available from the publisher, Xlibris, Booksamillion, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

In a nearby village there was a merchant who would carefully select olives and press them into oil and bring it to the holy rabbi, and the rabbi would use it to light his menorah. The merchant did this for many years.

May your oil burn clean, warm your soul and shine bright with the light of Shalom (peace)

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3) Please share this story with family and friends and let us know what you feel about the stories in a comment or two. Like us on Facebook

The Season of Lights – Chanukah is coming very quickly as it begins at Sundown

on November 28, 2021. Most people in the Jewish communities throughout the world can rattle off a list of Chanukah traditions such as lighting the menorah each night; playing dreidel games; eating foods cooked in oil (latkes and Sufganiot); and exchanging gifts.

An age old tradition is telling stories in the glow of the Chanukah menorah. The stories tell of greatness, nobility, and wisdom while at the same time raising the hopes for a better tomorrow.

The very backdrop to the spiritual stories is attractive to its readers allowing one to peek into the beliefs, and lifestyles of a vanishing age of a faraway world and reminding them that the messages are eternal – just as strong today as they were yesterday.

The book, Story Tour: The Journey Begins will remind readers of forgotten stories of faith that strengthen and reaffirm hope for a better world.

Buy a copy of Story Tour: The Journey Begins as a gift for someone special today. Story Tour: The Journey Begins is available from the publisher, Xlibris, Booksamillion, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

The student looked and asked, “What does this have to do with being Jewish?” He was truly looking for a spiritual meaning to the dreidel. He could not accept that this gambling game had anything to do with Yiddishkeit – Judaism.

Some rabbis connected the four letters with the four exiles of the Jewish people — Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome.

Let us all grow in wisdom, strong in spirit, and healthy in body.

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)

Rachmiel Tobesman is a motivational speaker and Maggid (spiritual Storyteller). He is available for speaking engagements or storytelling, Click here to contact us

Please share this story with family and friends and let us know what you think or feel about the stories in a comment or two.

Like us on Facebook or tweet us on Twitter

If the stories are not shared they will be lost.

Please share this story with others

The Season of Lights – Chanukah is coming very quickly as it begins at Sundown On December 18, 2022.

Most people in the Jewish communities throughout the world can rattle off a list of Chanukah traditions such as lighting the menorah each night; playing dreidel games; eating foods cooked in oil (latkes and Sufganiot); and exchanging gifts.

An age old tradition is telling stories in the glow of the Chanukah menorah. The stories tell of greatness, nobility, and wisdom while at the same time raising the hopes for a better tomorrow.

The very backdrop to the spiritual stories is attractive to its readers allowing one to peek into the beliefs, and lifestyles of a vanishing age of a faraway world and reminding them that the messages are eternal – just as strong today as they were yesterday.

The book, Story Tour: The Journey Begins will remind readers of forgotten stories of faith that strengthen and reaffirm hope for a better world.

Buy a copy of Story Tour: The Journey Begins as a gift for someone special today. Story Tour: The Journey Begins is available from the publisher, Xlibris, Booksamillion, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

My daughter questions everything and seeks answers that are sometimes very elusive. She has become frustrated over the apparent hypocrisy of many religious people. She feels it is hard to assert her individuality in a society with so many demands (how to dress, how to eat, how to communicate, etc).

I have told her many times that women are special in the Jewish community, but she often counters that all there is, is chauvinism and foolish limitations. It seems that the prevailing attitudes in our culture have replaced the long history of learning and teaching.

Chanukah is a holiday that is celebrated due to the sacrifices and deeds of women.

Who preserved and nurtured the Jewish tradition from generation to generation? Whose unwritten wisdom upheld it? The first response of many would probably be “the Rabbis.” A more careful, more thoughtful answer would be “the women.”

The legacy Jewish women represent continues wherever the Jewish tradition is guided, enriched, and uplifted by her daughters, the bearers of Judaism’s enduring legacy.

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)

Rachmiel Tobesman is a motivational speaker and Maggid (spiritual Storyteller). He is available for speaking engagements or storytelling, Click here to contact us

Please share this story with family and friends and let us know what you think or feel about the stories in a comment or two. Like us on Facebook or tweet us on Twitter

If the stories are not shared they will be lost.

Please share this story with others

The Season of Lights – Chanukah is coming very quickly as it begins at Sundown

on November 28, 2021. Most people in the Jewish communities throughout the world can rattle off a list of Chanukah traditions such as lighting the menorah each night; playing dreidel games; eating foods cooked in oil (latkes and Sufganiot); and exchanging gifts.

An age old tradition is telling stories in the glow of the Chanukah menorah. The stories tell of greatness, nobility, and wisdom while at the same time raising the hopes for a better tomorrow.

The very backdrop to the spiritual stories is attractive to its readers allowing one to peek into the beliefs, and lifestyles of a vanishing age of a faraway world and reminding them that the messages are eternal – just as strong today as they were yesterday.

The book, Story Tour: The Journey Begins will remind readers of forgotten stories of faith that strengthen and reaffirm hope for a better world.

Buy a copy of Story Tour: The Journey Begins as a gift for someone special today. Story Tour: The Journey Begins is available from the publisher, Xlibris, Booksamillion, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

When my father was younger he wrote for a lot of newspapers throughout the country. I think his articles are pretty good and makes one think. Here’s an excerpt from an article from 1984 that was in the Jewish Press.

Chanukah and the Fighters

The threat of Roman tyranny and paganism was challenged by Judea. The revolt against Rome lasted well over one hundred years before the Jewish fighters of Masada and Beitar fell in battle and the Jewish people forced into. exile.

The Jewish fighter sur­vived the Roman onslaught and championed Jewish causes many times throughout history. (the article talks about fights against Persia, Spain, and Crusaders. My father told about Jewish soldiers of the Khazar Empire, Berbers, Babylon and others)

On Chanuka, while we celebrate the victories of the Maccabees let us remember other heroes who rose to the threat of prejudice and hatred against the Jewish people.

The complete article is powerful and I wish he would write articles again.

The Jewish fighter survived the Roman onslaught and championed Jewish causes many times throughout history. (the article talks about fights against Persia, Spain, and Crusaders. My father told about Jewish soldiers of the Khazar Empire, Berbers, Babylon and others)