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This article is about the nine branched candelabrum used on Hanukkah. For the seven branched candelabrum used in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, see
Menorah (Temple).
Several
hanukiyot lit (
2006).
The Hanukkah Menorah (Hebrew: מנורה menorah) (also Hebrew: חַנֻכִּיָּה Hanukiah, or Chanukkiyah, pl. hanukiyot), (or Yiddish: חנוכּה לאמפּ khanike lomp, Lit: Chanukah lamp, also מנורה menorah) is a nine-branched candelabrum lit during the eight-day holiday of Hanukkah. The ninth branch is for a candle used to light all other candles called the shamash. This menorah has two branches more than a seven branched-menorah.
An oil burning Hanukkah menorah created in Israel circa 1948 by
Pal-Bell
[edit] Origins
Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Temple after the successful Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy. According to Jewish mythology, the victorious Jews found only enough ritually pure olive oil to light the menorah for one day, but the supply miraculously lasted eight days until a new supply could be obtained. In celebration of this miracle, the chanukkiyah has eight branches for eight candles or oil lamps, none higher than any other, except for one higher branch for the auxiliary candle, or shamash, which guards against secular use of the other lights and is also used to light them. The common reason for the number of the candles is that they symbolize the eight days of the miracle. Each night an additional light is kindled – one on the first night, two on the second night; and so on – until on the eighth night of Hanukkah all eight lights, plus the shamash, are lit (Note, the Jewish Rabbi Shammai wanted the opposite to happen i.e., the number of candle to be reduced over time. However Hillel, another promonent Rabbi of the time defeated this proposal, along with 5995 other proposals) Another possible reason for the eight branches of the Chanukah menorah, as opposed to the seven in the traditional menorah in the temple, may be because according to halakha, it is forbidden to make a menorah similar to the one in the temple because of its sanctity.
Another interpretation for the eight-day ceremony is that it commemorates the story of Hannah and her seven sons. The story depicted in the Talmud and in the Book of Maccabees accounts how Hannah's seven sons were tortured and executed according to Antiochus' policy when they refused to bow to a statue and to taste pork. Hannah herself committed suicide after the death of her sons.
In the diaspora, this candelabrum is more commonly called a "Hanukkah Menorah" whereas in Modern Hebrew it is exclusively called a Chanukkiyah. The name "Chanukkiyah" was given only in the end of the nineteenth century in Jerusalem by the wife of Eliezer Ben Yehuda, the revivor of the Hebrew language.
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