what do the 7 branches in a menorah stand for? or is 9 branches??

Answer 1

Hanukkah menorahs have nine 'branches' and are called hanukkiahs. There are also menorahs with seven branches (like in the book of Exodus in the Torah, or the book of Revelation in the Bible Christians and Messianic Jews use.

Each of these has a 'servant' candle which is used to light the others; it stands in the middle. It is called the shummash or chumash.

Menorahs may also be referred to in scripture as candlesticks or lampstands.

I have been taught that the seven branches of the menorah stand for the seven days of creation, and the burning bush Moses/Moshe saw.

The nine branches of the hanukkiah include one representing the servant, plus eight more for the eight days of oil burning in the rededicated temple when there should not have been enough to last that long.

Answer 2

The 7 branched menorah (lamp) is the one constructed by the Jews as they traveled from Egypt to Israel after escaping slavery. It was built at the same time as a batch of other holy objects very simply "because God said so" - ie: in the Bible it says "God said to Moses, make a lamp... etc." No reasons are provided though there are plenty of people with alot of homiletic interpretations on the symbolism.
When the first temple was destroyed and the first menorah lost, a new one was made for the second temple. That one was taken by the Romans and is now in storage at the vatican.
The 9 lamp menorah is also called Hanukiah and was created in commemoration of the rededication of the Temple following the victory over the Seleucid Greeks by the Maccabim or Hashmonaim. The branch shape is not by any means standard - it is only used to remember the main 7 branch one of the temples - but many hanukiot are flat with cups on a base rather than branches.
This is what people light on Hanukkah. As the first writer correctly said - Each of the main 8 candles stand for one day of the holiday with the 9th being an assistant candle because the main 8 may not be used for "secular" uses like enjoying their light or using the flame to light something else.

The second poster was thoroughly off on the war - in fact, the Romans entered the scene as allies of the Hashmonaim against the Greeks. There are no holidays celebrating victories over the Romans (though there were several temporary ones) - only several fasts commemorating catastrophic defeats.

Answer 3

The Menorah (1 + 6 branched) is the 'physical' representation of a mathematical matrix. This matrix of 48 + 288 numbers precisely 'forms' the Menorah shape, Each 'branch' consists of 24 numbers (in ref to the hours in a day) divided symmetrically in two (12 hrs day and 12 hrs night). The same Menorah Matrix gives the dimensions and ratios of our Planetary System (and specifically) the Sun Moon and Earth, including the precession of equinoxes. The central axis of the mathematical matrix also gives the angle of inclination of the Earth as 23.4 in order that have the four seasons. This Matrix does not only give the above and more that wasn't said, but it will be found to be the mathematical matrix of the Laws of Creation set by G-d. Coming soon...

Answer 4

Technically, there is a Menorah and a menorah. The big-M menorah was the 7-branched one that was at the Jerusalem Temple. The Chanukah menorah is more property called a "chanukiah" to denote a multi-oil or candle with 8 branches and a "shamesh" candle or oil lamp. The shamesh is lit first, and then is used to ignite the other lights.

Answer 5

Short story... :-)

The Hannukah menorah (correctly called the Hannukia as others pointed out - spelling of Hebrew words into English is meaningless, so don't worry if we all spell it differently) has 9 branches: 8 plus 1.

The 8 are for the eight nights of Hannukah. There are eight nights because of the miracle when a pot of oil that would burn a lamp for only one night, burned for eight nights. That leaves the 9th candle, which is the shamash, or servant, candle and is used to light the other eight (they should only be lit by the flame of the shamash).

Depending on how 'artsy' the design of the Hannukah menorah is, the shamash spot in the menorah may be found raised in the middle, or on an end, or separated in some other fashion from the other eight spots.

There are lengthy biblical explanations for these rules that I'm sure I wouldn't recall accurately, so I'm not even going to try. If you want more technical info on that, it's found easily enough. ;-) I'd recommend starting with www.jewfaq.org - my favorite website for looking up Jewish prayers, dates and details.

Answer 6

The seven branched menorah stands for the seven days of creation. The nine branched one is actually called a Hanukkiah, from the word Hannukah.

The reason there is a nine branched Hannukiah is because we are not allowed to recreate any Jewish artifacts fromthe origionaly temple until the Messiah comes and we can. The last Menorah was destroyed by the Greeks.

Because of this the Jewish people light the Hannukiah which as others said represents teh nine days that the oil lasted for and included the Samash, helper candle.

Answer 7

The Hanukiah, or Chanukkiyah, is a nine-branched candelabrum lit during the eight-day holiday of Hanukkah. The ninth branch is for a candle used to light all other candles called the shamash. The chanukkiyah has two branches more than a menorah. In the diaspora, the chanukkiyah is also commonly called a "Hanukkah menorah". The name "chanukkiyah" was given only in the end of the nineteenth century in Jerusalem by the wife of Eliezer Ben Yehuda, the revivor of the Hebrew language.

Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Temple after the successful Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy. According to the Talmud, the victorious Jews found only enough ritually pure olive oil to light the menorah for one day, but the supply miraculously lasted eight days until a new supply could be obtained. In celebration of this miracle, the chanukkiyah has eight branches for eight candles or oil lamps, none higher than any other, except for one higher branch for the auxiliary candle, or shamash, which guards against secular use of the other lights and is also used to light them. The common reason for the number of the candles is that they symbolize the eight days of the miracle. Each night an additional light is kindled – one on the first night, two on the second night; and so on – until on the eighth night of Hanukkah all eight lights, plus the shamash, are lit. Another possible reason for the eight branches of the Chanukkiyah, as opposed to the seven in the traditional menorah in the temple, may be because according to halakha, it is forbbiden to make a menorah similar to the one in the temple because of its sanctity.

Another interpretation for the eight-day ceremony is that it commemorates the story of Hannah and her seven sons. The story depicted in the Talmud and in the Book of Maccabees accounts how Hannah's seven sons were tortured and executed according to Antiochus' policy when they refused to bow to a statue and to taste pork. Hannah herself committed suicide after the death of her sons.

Answer 8

the 9 branches stand for the 8 days of the miracle of the oil, and the 9th, witch is normaly higher then the others, is used to light the others. the orininal menora had 7, 3 on each side, and 1 in the middle. what we light for 8 nights is supposed to be called a chanukia, even if everyone calls it a menorah. not that its realy wrong to call it a menorah.

Answer 9

It's 9. Eight of them stand for each day the oil lasted. The ninth one is a shamash-or servant candle, it is used to light the other ones. Once lit they must burn out on their own.

Answer 10

Umm, the jews did fight the romans, but they lost. badly. If you look up Masada in a history book it tells you of the last outpost of a three-year war against jewish rebels, and they got cornered on a mesa. To prevent being led through the streets of rome in a triumph(parade of sorts), each man killed his wife and children and then drew lots. 1 of every 10 people drew a certain rock and had to kill the other nine. Of the survivors, the process repeated until there was 1 man left, who killed himself. In this way only one person of the thousand-some rebels had to kill themselves thus damning himself to eternal torment in hell. Therefore, Romans win, Jews lose, Rome keeps Jerusalem as a territory.

Another unrelated story, turns out that the whole Moses "let my people go" worked. It says in the Old Testament that the Pharaoh of Egypt at the time agreed to the manumission of all Jewish slaves, but the "God hardened his heart against the words of Moses" so basically, the God of the Old Testament wanted the Jewish people to remain in slavery for a while longer. As to why the writer of the Old Testament put that in there is beyond my comprehension.