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Today is a very busy and light-filled day in the Hebrew calendar. How fortunate and blessed we are to have so much light adorn our homes, first with the lighting of the sixth candle of Hanukkah and then with the welcoming of Shabbat by lighting her candles, especially since it now gets dark in the late afternoon.

Do you remember when you counted the days until Hanukkah arrived? I can still picture my mom polishing the traditional brass lion menorah and buying new candles from our Temple Sisterhood. I was allowed to select just the perfect candles, sometimes placed in order by colors and sometimes chosen to simply be bright and happy. Mom's latkes were the best ever; she made hundreds for the religious school’s Hanukkah party and was called "The Latke Lady."

by Dara Amram This week’s torah portion, Vayeishev, describes six prophetic dreams. Here we see that Joseph has a gift for reading dreams, but it's a talent that is primarily a passive one, where dream intuitions are given to him and he doesn’t need to think about anything.

NFTY-Chicago Area Region Alumni Sari Lipsett and Ari Lorge have taken on the issue of Gender Violence as the founders of Reyut: A Jewish Campaign for Healthy Relationships, which aims to "educate, raise awareness, and foster action." This post was initially written on November 25, 2012, which was the start date of the international campaign, "16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence." by Sari Lipsett and Ari Lorge Today is The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It is day one of the international campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. All around the world individuals and organizations are spending twenty four hours working to end one of the most pervasive evils in our world: violence against women. Each of us can afford to spend a bit of time today taking action. We at Reyut are making it easy!

by Rabbi Robert A. Jacobs Life’s experiences can give us energy: a friend walking her dachshund was angered when two larger dogs attacked the little fellow, biting him seriously. The dog bears scars but healed, and that allowed the two owners to move from that misfortune to a mutual understanding. Life’s experiences promise us change, and in Parashat Vayishlach , we read of spiritual experiences that transform lives.

America is in a state of emergency. This time, I’m not talking about Hurricane Sandy, or the fiscal cliff or domestic violence. I’m talking about the state of judicial emergencies that exists in 33 places across our country and that compromises our democratic system. This week, Reform leaders Rabbi David Saperstein and Rabbi Marla J. Feldman sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urging them to hold confirmation votes for the 19 pending nominees in a swift and timely manner.

This blog was written on Nov. 15, 2012, after Temple Beth Israel in Fresno, CA participated in WRJ's Sh'ma Smackdown in support of the Women of the Wall. by Rabbi Laura Novak Winer Tonight is Rosh Chodesh Kislev. Here in Fresno, California a group of 25 women from Temple Beth Israel gathered together to study Torah and midrash, recite Sh’ma while wearing tallitot (some for the first time!) and holding the Torah. We cherish our freedom to worship as Reform Jews, as women with equal access to all aspects of Jewish practice and observance.

This letter was written last week in response to a letter that WRJ-North America sent WRJ-Israel reminding them that "stronger together" is more than a tagline on WRJ's website, but a pledge to help each other during times of need like now—the escalating violence in Israel. by Alex Cicelsky While we on Kibbutz Lotan are located geographically outside of the areas that are directly impacted by the violence stemming from Gaza, we of course are connected directly by family, friends and national interest in what is happening there. Our prayers go to our children, our soldiers, who on the front lines and all those on both sides of the conflict that simply want to live in peace.

This letter from the chair of WRJ-Israel and her husband, written on November 19, 2012, was sent in response to a letter that WRJ-North America sent WRJ-Israel reminding them that "stronger together" is more than a tagline on WRJ's website, but a pledge to help each other during times of need like now—the escalating violence in Israel. by Resa and Rabbi Stan Davids Dear friends and family members, We begin with a word of thanks to the incredible number of you who have called and/or written – to express solidarity with Israel as well as your concern for our personal well-being. This ‘connectedness’ means the world to us. We will in particular forever treasure a call from one of our grandchildren who said: “Saba and Savta. I checked with Mom. She said that it’s OK if you need to leave Israel for you to come and stay with us.” Another grandchild called to ask how we were doing and to sing us a Hebrew song so that we would feel better.