Happy Hanukkah- Day 5
Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights. There is a deep connection of Light to the first three minutes of creation as described by Steven Weinberg in his book ‘The First Three Minutes.’
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Hanukkah is the festival of lights commemorating the victory of Israel over the cruel Seleucid Greek overlords. Upon recapturing the second Holy Temple in Jerusalem that had been desecrated with idols of Greek gods, the Macabees set about purifying the Temple. It was necessary to rekindle the eternal lights in the Temple's candelabra with six lights (made famous much later by its portrayal on the Arch of Titus in Rome)
One flask of sealed undesecrated olive oil was found in a storehouse. It had enough oil to burn for one day and it would take eight days to obtain more pure oil. The legend is that the oil burned for eight days. In honor of this event. we celebrate the eight days of Hanukkah by lighting the Hanukkah lights each of the eight days of Hanukkah at sunset..
Please note that the taller light in the center is just a helper light. When using real candles, it is lit first and is then used to light the other lights.
On the first day, we light one light in addition to the helper. On the second day, we light two lights, etc, until, on the eighth day, all eight lights plus the helper are lit.
Happy Hanukkah- Day 5
Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights. There is a deep connection of Light to the first three minutes of creation as described by Steven Weinberg in his book ‘The First Three Minutes.’
__________________________________________
Hanukkah is the festival of lights commemorating the victory of Israel over the cruel Seleucid Greek overlords. Upon recapturing the second Holy Temple in Jerusalem that had been desecrated with idols of Greek gods, the Macabees set about purifying the Temple. It was necessary to rekindle the eternal lights in the Temple's candelabra with six lights (made famous much later by its portrayal on the Arch of Titus in Rome)
One flask of sealed undesecrated olive oil was found in a storehouse. It had enough oil to burn for one day and it would take eight days to obtain more pure oil. The legend is that the oil burned for eight days. In honor of this event. we celebrate the eight days of Hanukkah by lighting the Hanukkah lights each of the eight days of Hanukkah at sunset..
Please note that the taller light in the center is just a helper light. When using real candles, it is lit first and is then used to light the other lights.
On the first day, we light one light in addition to the helper. On the second day, we light two lights, etc, until, on the eighth day, all eight lights plus the helper are lit.