Hanukkah means Dedication or Rededication. Centuries before our candle-lighting practices were standardized, one school of Jewish sages would kindle eight lights on the first night of the holiday, and decrease to one by the final night.

This approach may more directly evoke the miracle we still celebrate — not the amount of available fuel, but the rededication to hope against all odds. Even a single candle can spread great hope with its light.

And as our sages also taught, "Even as each small metal-scale joins into a great armor-plate, so with just-giving each and every coin joins into a great account." Simple, incremental sharing of our abundance keeps the hope shining.


In 2015 our work was again highlighted in Tablet Magazine and The Forward. Our workshops and retreats were well-received across the country. Between publications and programs, we continued to support individuals and families through crucial transitions in their lives.

We welcome your support of our efforts. And if you’d like to bring WAYS OF PEACE to your community in the year to come, we'd love to hear from you.


WAYS OF PEACE donates at least 10 percent of net staff compensation to other organizations that uphold our core mandates of promoting justice and kindness across lines of diversity.

Of course, like eating and sleeping, giving is not a one-day event. Every time we open our wallets or check our bank balances, we face choices about how to share our money. That's why WAYS OF PEACE works to reclaim the culture of just-giving  throughout the year: simple, equitable, and regular.*

In 2015 we launched Generous Justice, our new network of learning circles for just-giving. Personal money choices have the power to save lives — and now a multi-generational cohort of change-makers is bringing the principles of just-giving to their home communities, from coast to coast in the U.S. and Canada.

Generous Justice leverages donations by inspiring people to give more to a range of worthy causes. Participants join a dialogue across millennia of Jewish prophets, sages, activists and artists to support each other in putting more of our money where our mouths, hearts and minds are. The financial pie can be divided more equitably at the grassroots, as just-giving becomes an everyday way of life.

Your donation to WAYS OF PEACE will help Generous Justice continue to take root in communities near and far — on Giving Tuesday and throughout the coming year. Read more about this transformative program, and about our other programs and services.

Support WAYS OF PEACE Today!

* WAYS OF PEACE donates at least 10 percent of net staff compensation to other organizations that uphold our core mandates of promoting justice and kindness across lines of diversity.