Meir Soloveichik

Families on Hanukkah gather together and celebrate around dreidels, chocolate coins, and presents. Yet the holiday's most profound meaning is in its core symbol and ritual: the lighting of the menorah. Rabbi Soloveichik takes us through Hanukkah's two pivotal historical stages, the age of the Temple and the age of Diaspora, teaching us about the triumph of monotheism and Judaism, and the lessons Hanukkah's miracles hold for anyone who cares about Jewish survival.

In the Hebrew Bible, the Jews are described as a chosen people—but what are they chosen for? Rabbi Soloveichik explains that each of Judaism's two types of sacred time, Shabbat and the Jewish festivals, exemplifies a unique aspect of Jewish purpose.

Sukkot and its rituals speak to the meaning of Jewish history, and the moral and spiritual challenges of our day.

Rabbi Soloveichik explores Judaism's "Day of Atonement," the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. Does the process of repentance, wherein we recall our many failings, year after year, mean that man is inherently bad or "fallen"? Is there truth in the claim that man is merely a material being, wholly determined by his irrepressible urges? The Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, rightly understood, offers a resounding "no"—and conveys a message of faith and hope in the divinely-given purpose of man.

Drawing upon wide ranging sources—from the history of British royalty to the poetry and prayers of Rosh Hashanah—Rabbi Soloveichik invites us to explore the connection between the New Year and the Jewish family, Creation and procreation, divine love and human love from one Jewish generation to the next.

What is the Jewish idea of time? How can it be made sacred? Rabbi Soloveichik ties together three incredible stories about Hasidim in Alaska, former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and former refusenik Natan Sharansky.