8 Nights, 8 Heroes

by Aish.com Staff
Inspiring stories to share around the Chanukah lights.
Chanukah is the time when we joyously recall the heroic Maccabees and the miracle of the oil that burned for 8 nights. Throughout Jewish history, there have been heroes in every generation. We thought it would be fun to choose 8 Jewish heroes, and each night, as we light the Chanukah candles, to read about a different hero.
How did we choose these 8? We included a variety — those who demonstrated leadership qualities and others who reached great spiritual heights; young and old, famous and ordinary. The first 4 heroes in our list are historical figures, and the next 4 are alive today.
Each has an interesting story to tell, and each fought to preserve our heritage so that we can continue to live as proud Jews today. Enjoy!
Abraham
The Maccabees
Rebbe Akiva
Rabbi Chiyah
Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau
The Chicken Lady
Sherri & Seth Mandell
Shlomo Mulla
1) Abraham
There was a time when the world looked very different than it does today. People worshipped idols of wood and stone. Many people were illiterate, there was no concept of equal rights, and people abused and enslaved others. That's because people did not know about God.
This is the world that Abraham lived in. When he was three years old, Abraham saw the world of nature with all its beauty and perfection — and concluded that for a world so perfectly designed, there must be a designer. Abraham had discovered God.
On the surface, this conclusion is not so amazing. If you went to a toy factory and saw the process of design, manufacture and assembly, would you mistakenly think these toys are produced by accident?!
What is so remarkable about Abraham's discovery is that he lived in a world filled with idolatry. His family even owned an idol store! One day, Abraham was asked to watch the store. He took a hammer and smashed all the idols — except for the largest. His father came home aghast. “What happened?!” he shouted. “It was amazing, Dad,” said Abraham. “The idols all got into a fight and the biggest idol won!” There was no way for his father to respond; deep down he knew that Abraham had tuned into a deeper truth
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