What is the meaning of the Hanukkah Menorah?
The Hanukkah menorah, or the hanukkiyah has 8 candles in a row with the ninth in the middle above the others called the shamash.
The Hanukkah menorah is used to celebrate the miracle of oil – when the Jewish people took back the Temple form the Syrians, they wanted to dedicate it to God and restore purity. They needed 8 days of oil to purify the Temple, but only found one day’s worth. This day’s worth of oil lasted 8 whole days (which are represented by the 8 candles).
The Hanukkah Menorah, or hanukkiah, symbolizes the light that was burned in the temple after it was reclaimed. The menorah has nine candles, one for representing each day, and one that is used as only a “helper candle.” Each night, an additional candle is added and lit until the entire menorah is filled and glowing. How is the dreidel used? A dreidel is a little spinning top with four sides. Each of the four sides has a Hebrew letter that corresponds to the saying “A Great Miracle Happened There,” where “there” refers to Israel (Fun fact: in Israel, the dreidels say “A Great Miracle Happened Here”). There is a gambling game you can play with it where each of the letters stands for the amount of coins you win. The story has it that when Jews were not allowed to practice their religion, they kept a dreidel handy and pretended to be playing this game whenever they were in fear of getting caught. Were you concerned about differences in faith backgrounds when you chose to come to Wake Fores
