Best of Hanukkah Lights: Eight Stories, Eight Nights
For each of the eight nights of Hanukkah, we offer a hand-selected work of fiction from the long-running Hanukkah Lights series. Modern day writers kindle our imaginations with stories inspired by the oil that miraculously burned in the temple for eight days and nights.
'The Demon Foiled' by Anne Roiphe
A modern fable that takes an often wry look at a family gathering touched by big-city politics. Yet under the spell of Hanukkah, even political spin can become an enlightening truth. Roiphe is author of Up the Sandbox and My Real Life as a Mother.
'The Miracle of the Oil' by Simone Zelitch
A touching fable of inner conflict and the challenges of tolerance. Zelitch is the author of the novel Louisa which won the Goldberg Prize from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture. She has also written Moses in Sinai and Confession of Jack Straw.
'Hanukkah in the Age of Guys and Dolls'
by Mark Helprin
A helping of Damon Runyon from this respected writer. A contributing editor for The Wall Street Journal, Helprin's novels include A Soldier of the Great War, and Winter's Tale.
'Hanukkah in Malaga' by Peter Beagle
A poignant memoir of Hanukkah in a Spanish, Catholic household, and of its unexpected gift to a young man exploring life in a world far from home. Beagle, a well-known fantasy author, wrote the children's classic The Last Unicorn in 1968.
'Nona Maccabeus' by Gloria DeVidas Kirchheimer
Confronted with a "hip-hop holiday," a feisty grandmother fights back with a lively dose of her Sephardic heritage. Kircheimer is the author of the popular story collection Goodbye, Evil Eye.
'The Maccabee of Miami Beach' by Thane Rosenbaum
A down-and-out retiree gets a dramatic chance at fame — though maybe not fortune — amidst the art deco glow of Collins Avenue. Rosenbaum is also the author of the novel The Golems of Gotham.
'Hanukkah in America' by Amy Bloom
Amy Bloom tells the insightful tale of a wise but inexperienced seamstress, who gets a bittersweet taste of the high life in the colorful, "old world" of Yiddish theater in the Roaring Twenties.
'Hanukkah At Tiffany's' by Leslea Newman
A four-year-old's rebellious name-change moves a grandmother to recall her own childhood. Newman is the author of a number of children's books, including Runaway Dreidel and Heather Has Two Mommies.
Comments
Discussions for this story are now closed. Please see the Community FAQ for more information.