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Sharing the Miracle: A Brief History of Lighting the Menorah | A Celebration of Hanukkah with Geoffrey Baer

Sharing the Miracle: A Brief History of Lighting the Menorah

Several lit menorahs adorn a table in a dark room with figures in the background and a hand reaching toward one candle
A family lights a menorah. Credit: Rachel Pikelny

The menorah, perhaps the most instantly recognizable symbol of Hanukkah today, now comes in all shapes and sizes for all ages. Some are personalized, handmade family heirlooms, while others have a sense of whimsy or childhood charm. (A quick search by this writer yielded a T. rex menorah, as well as a sushi roll menorah!) But the menorah was not always a highly public symbol of the Festival of Lights.

The part of the Hanukkah story relating to the menorah isn’t in the Jewish bible. It is first told in a book of Jewish law called the Talmud written around the second century CE. According to the story, after the Maccabees reclaimed and restored their temple from a conquering army in 164 BCE, they wanted to light their sacred candelabra called a menorah. There was only enough of the kosher olive oil used to fuel the flames to last one day, but the oil lasted for eight days.

“The oil that they found, which was so little, lasted for much longer than they expected,” said Rabbi Ari Hart of Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob in Skokie, Illinois. “That’s a metaphor for the power of light and the surprising power of light to fill even the darkest times and to give hope and inspiration to all of us.”

Illustration of a person lighting a large menorah

The Illuminating History of Hanukkah

Most people who observe Hanukkah agree that they celebrate the holiday to commemorate a great miracle. But was the miracle about the oil, or a military victory? That’s when it gets complicated. Dig into the history of the holiday.

Rabbi Debra Newman Kamin of Am Yisrael Conservative Congregation in Northfield, Illinois, likes to quote rabbi and philosopher David Hartman when talking about the miracle.

“He wrote [that] the miracle of Hanukkah is not that the oil lasted for eight days. The miracle of Hanukkah is that anybody lit it to begin with,” Kamin said. “To have the faith of lighting, it actually feels very metaphorical for the Jewish people – the idea that any of us are still here 2,000 years later celebrating this holiday.”

The holiday is celebrated around the world, and the traditions surrounding lighting the Hanukkah candles sometimes vary in different countries. For example, in India, a community of Jewish people called Bene Israel light wicks dipped in coconut oil. In North Africa, a special candle-lighting ceremony honors women on the seventh night of Hanukkah, called Chag Habanot. Despite these variations, Jewish people light candles or oil eight nights in a row all over the world.

“There’s a tendency among some people to then take the amount of time when the candles are burning to reset and not work…maybe to gather together as a family while the candles are burning,” said David Shyovitz, a professor of history and Jewish studies at Northwestern University. “Especially today for American families, this is seen as an important part of the observance of Hanukkah – not just the lighting, but actually the familial, domestic coming together…as a sign of fellowship.”

But let’s back up for a second – is it actually called a menorah?

“So, a menorah is actually just a lamp,” Kamin said. Cue the record scratch!

Menorah is the Hebrew word for lamp – a candelabra that could have any number of branches. (The Temple Menorah refers to the menorah that had seven branches in the ancient temple in Jerusalem.) During Hanukkah, Jewish people light the hanukkiah. The hanukkiah has eight candles, with an additional “helper candle,” or shamash, at the center. However, you’ll still hear hanukkiah and menorah used interchangeably these days.

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Lighting the Menorah

During Hanukkah, sharing the miracle with others is a key component of the holiday. In Jewish law, there’s a special Talmud command to “publicize the miracle,” or pursumei nisa. It is to let the “whole world know about the power of light,” said Hart.

“That’s why when we light Hanukkah candles, we light them in our windows. That’s why we light Hanukkah candles on the street,” Hart said. “Other holidays, we’re not so interested in the public side of it. The Passover seder is very much in the home.”

In addition to being lighted in the windows of the homes of Jewish families, menorahs are often found in public spaces today in the United States. But before the 1970s, Hanukkah was a more low-profile holiday. While nativity scenes and Christmas trees were often displayed in public or government spaces, the menorah was rarely, if ever, displayed in public spaces.

“You can imagine for Jewish people who see nativity scenes in the town square or big crosses or Christmas trees in the town square, it feels like a validation or a legitimization specifically of Christianity in what should have been a religiously neutral public space,” Shyovitz said. In fact, he added, some Jewish groups had a “long history” of advocating against religious symbols or worship in public spaces.

Members of Chabad of Philadelphia light a menorah in 1974
Members of Chabad of Philadelphia light a menorah in 1974. Credit: Chabad / Lubavitch Archives

Then, in the 1970s, an Orthodox group called Chabad went in the opposite direction. “They say, no, actually, what we need to do is stake our claim in the public sphere alongside those other majoritarian religious symbols and to show that we are as equal, as legitimate,” said Shyovitz. In other words, they sought to publicize the miracle on a much larger scale – in “ways that the Maccabees could only have dreamed of,” added Shyovitz with a laugh.

In 1974, Chabad of Philadelphia lighted a 4-foot, wooden menorah in a small ceremony in front of Independence Hall. In 1975, Chabad of San Francisco took things up a notch and lighted a towering, 22-foot, mahogany menorah in the city’s Union Square. Other cities followed in the next few years. Then, in 1979, President Jimmy Carter lighted the first national menorah in Lafayette Park across from the White House. Lighting the menorah has been a part of holiday celebrations in each administration since. But there were still challenges. In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a complex case called County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union. In part of the case, the ACLU argued that Chabad’s menorah, which was displayed outside a Pittsburgh public building alongside a Christmas tree, was a violation of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of Chabad.

Today, menorahs are often part of public holiday displays. In cities all over America, Chabad hosts a menorah parade in which families attach menorahs to the tops of their cars in a joyful procession. “It’s maybe common for those of us who drive through towns or cities and see these menorah in public to assume that that’s just something to take for granted,” Shyovitz said. These public displays, once a rarity, are now enmeshed in the fabric of American holiday celebrations.