Hanukkah 2014

These days (very close to Xmass) we celebrate Hanukkah ,a family Festival of lights.

First Candle with the Shamash lightened on an old Candelabra originally used with oil.

4 Candles lightened on the 4th day of Hanukkah.

 

Known as the Festival of Lights, Feast of Dedication, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar.

The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a unique candelabrum, the nine-branched menorah or Hanukah, one additional light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. The typical menorah consists of eight branches with an additional visually distinct branch. The extra light is called a Shamash and is given a distinct location, usually above or below the rest. The purpose of the Shamash is to have a light available for practical use, as using the Hanukkah lights themselves for purposes other than publicizing and meditating upon Hanukkah is forbidden.^[2]

Other Hanukkah festivities include playing dreidel and eating oil based foods such as doughnuts and latkes.

More information can be found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah

Our grand Daughter almost one year old and her first Candle.