Our children create a human menorah
Chanukkah, the Jewish festival of rededication, also known as the festival of lights, is an eight day festival beginning on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev.
The story of Chanukah is not told in our scriptures, but rather in the book of Maccabees. It commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. The story is about a revolution against assimilation and the suppression of Jewish religion.
While not considered one of the more important Jewish holidays, our services and celebrations at Beth Israel focus on the values and lessons that Chanukah offers us, and it is a festive time for us.
At the synagogue and at home, we observe the only religious observance related to the holiday, the lighting of candles. The candles are arranged in a candelabrum called a menorah (or sometimes called a chanukkiah) that holds nine candles: one for each night, plus a shammus (servant) at a different height. One candle is added to the menorah each night. The first night, you light only the shammus (the one at a different height) and one Chanukkah candle. By the eighth night, you light all of the candles. You can see the blessings we say by clicking here.