“Let there be light!” resounds as we add a candle each night of Hanukkah to increase the light on our menorahs—and in the world.

“In the merit of righteous women, our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt” (Talmud, Sotah 11b). Our Sages are pointing to the acts of Miriam, the

Shavuot, which celebrates the time we stood at Sinai, is associated first and foremost with hearing the Ten Commandments. But the Midrash brings a much