Hanukkah - Festival of Lights
in Jewish tradition, a day begins at sundown - so Hanukkah began at sundown on the eighteenth day of December this year
and a blessing - as the light is kindled, eight candles for eight nights
Hebrew:
.ברוך אתה יי, אלוהינו מלך העולם, שהחיינו, וקיימנו, והגענו לזמן הזה
Transliteration:
Baruch atah Adonai, Elohenu Melech ha’olam, shehecheyanu, v’kiyimanu, v’higiyanu la’zman hazeh.
Translation:
Praised are You, Our God, Ruler of the universe, Who has given us life and sustained us and enabled us to reach this season.
Hanukkah is the celebration of Jewish liberation from the Greeks, and more so, the celebration of consecrated light brought back to the temple - the tiny bit of undefiled oil that kept a light burning in the temple for eight days until more consecrated oil could be found for the temple.
I have known that the tradition is to light a menorah - with eight candles - over the course of eight nights. I always assumed that the tradition was to start with one candle, then light two the next night, then three, and so on . . . but, today, I was introduced to the knowledge that there are two schools of thought . . . those who follow the way of the House of Hillel light in the order I just described, starting with just a little bit of light and adding to brightness each evening. Those who follow the way of the House of Shammai light all eight the first night, then seven, then six, and so on, bringing the maximum light on the first night, and diminishing as the nights of the miracle diminish.
This article, Tomorrow Will Be Much Better, and this one, Hillel and Shammai, are both interesting (fairly short) fleshing out of some thoughts about both traditions. The ruling rabbis in the early years of the common era decided to follow the custom of the House of Hillel, and the Jewish mystics say that after the Messiah comes, the custom of the House of Shammai should be followed. There are also Jewish people who light their menorahs as the Shammai did in order to reframe their relationship to the rules of their religion and to usher in an era of liberation.
Celebrations of light in the darkness, traditions that weave threads from generation to generation, and some of us re-framing, re-membering, re-building, re-working what traditions to let go and what traditions to claim.
Praise be to God, Who remains steadfast and sure, no matter what traditions we observe.