Ok im not jewish, but i have a question. Why are there 9 candles on a menorah, but there are 8 days of Hanukkah? Can someone explain that to me?
2006-12-21 18:26:51 · 6 answers · asked by cubswin1979 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Gladly. There are 8 candles and the 9th which you will see is a bit higher is lit first and lights the other candles from left to right. In Hebrew this candle is called the shamesh and it means the helper candle. Thank you for wanting to know and a very merry Christmas to you and yours
2006-12-21 18:31:19 · answer #1 · answered by devora k 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
On Hanukka they light the menora each night for 8 nights-one candle on the first night, 2 on the second, etc. There is a cande called the 'shamesh' which is used to light every other candle. The shamesh stands taller that the rest and the reason why we do it that way is because that's the way it was done in the Temple. The menora in the temple however, only had 7 branches, instead of nine, but the reason they light 8, is because of the miracle that lasted 8 days!
2006-12-21 18:35:36 · answer #2 · answered by -♦One-♦-Love♦- 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I believe one candle is meant to be used to light the other ones.
2006-12-21 18:29:34 · answer #3 · answered by catwomanmeeeeow 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
One is the Shamash candle-used to light the rest.
2006-12-21 18:31:57 · answer #4 · answered by Shossi 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
eight candles for each of the eight days and and one candle to light the other ones
2006-12-21 18:30:01 · answer #5 · answered by god_of_the_accursed 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
the one in the middle is used to light the others
2006-12-21 18:31:21 · answer #6 · answered by Pico 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋