How To Set Up A Menorah

Download Article

Chanukah (also spelled Hanukah or Hannukah) is the Jewish festival of lights and feast of dedication, a joyous holiday that celebrates the phenomenon of one 24-hour interval's quantity of oil burning for eight days in the menorah in the Temple of Jerusalem. The central focus of Chanukah is the chanukiah, the candelabra that many refer to as a menorah (though "chanukiah" is the right term for the Chanukah candelabra). Lighting the chanukiah is a ritual that has very specific steps which differ slightly each of the eight nights of Chanukah!

1
Calorie-free the shamash candle. One time the sunday has set (unless it's Friday), light the shamash candle using a match, lighter, or other flame source. It's very important to light the shamash kickoff. The shamash is what you will be using to light the other candles, so you should never light the other candles earlier information technology.^[1]
- Start the candle lighting before dusk on Friday night and utilise long-lasting candles so they burn for at least thirty minutes later on the lord's day sets.
ii
Say the first blessing over the candles. Whenever candles are lit in a Jewish ceremony, a blessing is always said over the candle lighting. This is the commencement approving that you will say on each dark of Chanukah.^[2]
1. Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha'olam, asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav 5'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Hanukkah.
  Blessed are You, O Lord Our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who has sanctified the states with Your commandments and commanded us to kindle the lights of Chanukah.
- Y'all can sing the approval with the traditional tune, or only recite information technology. You can also say it in English language if y'all can't pronounce the Hebrew, though you should utilize the Hebrew if you tin.
- It's traditional for others around to say "amen" later each blessing has been recited.
Advert
3
Recite the 2d blessing. The second blessing thanks God for miracles that God performed for the Jewish ancestors, and is recited every night of Chanukah after the candle lighting blessing.^[3]
1. Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha'olam, she'asah nisim l'avoteinu, b'yamim haheim bazman hazeh.
  Blest are Y'all, O Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who made miracles for our forefathers in those days at this time.
4
Recite the Shehecheyanu on the first dark of Chanukah. If information technology is the first night of Chanukah, recite the Shehecheyanu after the other 2 blessings. The Shehecheyanu is a special blessing that is traditionally said every time you do something for the first time, or do a specific ritual for the get-go time in this twelvemonth. Because you volition be lighting the Chanukah candles for the first time this year, say this approving on the first dark, but not on the following nights of Chanukah.
1. Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha'olam, shehekheyanu, five'kiyamanu vehegianu lazman hazeh.
  Blessed are You, O Lord Our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who has kept us alive, sustained the states and brought u.s.a. to this season.
Advertisement

1
Light the candles with the shamash. Later you finish reciting the blessings, pick the shamash candle upwards with your ascendant manus. Use the shamash to light the candle/southward, going from left to correct. In other words, light the newest candle start, then light the preceding candles.
- Light the candles from left to right to acknowledge the new candle representing the new night of Chanukah before the others.
- Always use the shamash to lite the candles. Never utilise an already lit candle to light the others.
2

Place the shamash candle back in its slot. After yous finish lighting the candles, place the shamash candle dorsum in its slot. Yous take just finished lighting your chanukiah!
3
Place the chanukiah in the window. Placing the chanukiah in the window is a way of proudly showing your Jewish heritage and traditions.
- A fundamental part of the Chanukah story is the defeat of the Hellenistic forces by the ancient Jewish Maccabees. The Greeks had taken over the ancient Jewish temple and were trying to smother the Jewish religion. This is why displaying the chanukiah and expressing your Judaism is an integral part of the vacation.^[4]
- Custom says to place the chanukiah in a window to the left of the door, if possible. The chanukiah belongs on the left side of a doorway, opposite the mezuzah on the right side, and then that the family unit tin can be surrounded past mitzvot (commandments) as they gloat Chanukah.^[5]
4
Allow the candles burn themselves out. Instead of blowing out or extinguishing the candles, let them run their course. Make sure that they burn for at to the lowest degree a half an hr after sunset. If you have to leave the house, fourth dimension it and so that they burn for at to the lowest degree thirty minutes afterwards you have lit them.^[6]
- If it is Shabbat, use long-lasting candles and make certain that they burn for at least a half an 60 minutes afterward the sun sets.
- If you take to leave the house, let the candles burn for at least xxx minutes subsequently sunset, then extinguish them for safety purposes.
Advertisement

ane
Brainstorm at sunset of the 24th twenty-four hours of the month of Kislev. Chanukah begins on the same day of the Jewish calendar each year, the 24th day of the month of Kislev. Considering the Jewish and Roman calendars are different, Chanukah begins on a dissimilar twenty-four hour period each year on the Roman calendar.^[vii]
- In 2022, Chanukah begins in the evening of Th, December 10, and ends in the evening of Friday, December xviii.
2
Gather your family or friends just after dusk. All Jewish holidays begin at sunset, so y'all should get your friends or family together with y'all to light the candles just afterwards the lord's day sets.^[8]
- Including friends and family in the candle lighting ritual a very important aspect of Chanukah. A large part of Judaism is sharing the miracle of Chanukah and passing the tradition onto your children. For this reason, endeavor to include others in the candle lighting!
- The exception is Friday dark, when the menorah should be lit before dusk. This is because Friday nighttime is the outset of Shabbat, or the mean solar day of rest, and lighting the menorah constitutes every bit work (which should not be done later on Shabbat begins).^[9]
three
Place the shamash in the chanukiah. On your chanukiah, y'all should see ix slots for candles, with eight slots on i level and i slot elevated to a higher place the rest. This is the spot for the shamash, or the candle used to light all the other candles. Identify one candle in this elevated spot.
- Every night of Chanukah, you place and light the shamash first before the other candles.
- The word "shamash" means "attendant" in Hebrew, and its elevation away from the other candles is meant to split it from the candles that represent each day of Chanukah. Its position also alludes to its important function of lighting the other candles.^[ten]
- It doesn't matter what colour candles you use. Some choose traditional blue and white candles, while others prefer differently colored candles!^[eleven]
- The candelabra Jewish people apply for Chanukah is really a "chanukiah," which has nine branches, not a menorah, which has seven. People incorrectly call the chanukiah a menorah, but they have become accepted as the same affair. If you wish to exist technically accurate, telephone call the candelabra a chanukiah.
- While an electric chanukiah is a great decoration, it tin't exist used to properly fulfill the ceremony of Chanukah. You need to apply a candle or oil chanukiah to fulfill the mitzvah (the commandment or good act) of lighting the chanukiah.
4
Add the other candles. Every night of Chanukah, you lot add one more than candle. On the first night of Chanukah, place a candle in the right-near slot. After the starting time nighttime of Chanukah, add together one candle for each dark, starting from the right-most slot and going left.^[12]
- For instance, on the 2nd night of Chanukah, place the shamash candle in its slot and the candle representing the first night of Chanukah in the right-about slot. Place the candle representing the 2d night of Chanukah in the slot next to the previous candle (the second to the right-most slot).
- On the third nighttime, identify the candles every bit you did on the second night, adding a fourth candle in the slot 3rd to the correct.
Advertisement

Add New Question

Question

What'southward the soonest I tin can display the empty menorah? Do I need to look until the first night of Hanukkah?

You can accept it ready equally early as y'all wish. Lighting it, though, starts on the kickoff night.
Question

When the beginning candle is lighted later on prayer, practice I put off the candle until the last twenty-four hours which all the candles are left to burn down?

No, you lot use unlike candles each dark, always letting them fire down.
Question

Tin can I light all the candles on the offset night and subtract?

I've heard of people doing this, though it is not common. It makes a certain sense though, as ane can consider it the same as the oil slowly existence used upwardly. If you're concerned virtually whether or not it's proper, amend enquire a rabbi.
Question

Will I need up to 50 candles during the 8 days of Hanukkah?

You need 44 candles: 2+three+4+5+half dozen+7+eight+9, 1 candle for each night plus the shamash.
Question

Why are candles placed in the menorah from right to left?

In Judaism, there is a principle that the right is superior to the left unless indicated otherwise in a certain situation.
Question

What happens if candle number 1 is completely extinguished prior to lighting the eighth candle?

Y'all should select candles that will burn for at to the lowest degree a half hour. Calorie-free all your candles, from left to correct, after the last prayer is said. This should take less than a infinitesimal in full...plenty of fourth dimension to lite the last candle before the first burns downward.
Question

How many candles do I demand?

You lot need two candles the commencement dark, three the second night, iv the tertiary night and and so on.
Question

What order practice the colored candles go in?

The colors are not really important. As a thing of fact, yous could use all candles of the same color, or simply 2 colors.
Question

After the eighth dark, how long do we keep burning the candles and what do we practice at the terminate of the holiday?

After the eighth dark, the holiday is over! Congratulation on celebrating eight nights for Judaism! Let the candles burn until they go out on their own.
Question

On an electric menorah, how long exercise you leave the lights called-for?

You cannot fulfill the ritual of candle lighting on an electric chanukiah, then therefore the usual practices don't apply.

Meet more answers

Inquire a Question

200 characters left

Include your electronic mail address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertizement

Video

Eat latkes, exchange presents, and play a game of dreidel around your chanukiah!
For the chanukiah to be kosher, information technology must accept all 8 of the "regular" candles in a line at the aforementioned pinnacle, and the shamash set up autonomously. Every bit long as this requirement is fulfilled, the chanukiah tin be decorated whatsoever way you like. Some people even make their own as a craft project.
Place a plate or tray under the candles so that the wax does not drip onto the tablecloth.

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

Supervise children lighting candles, and brand sure not to put the candles within the reach of a toddler or pet who might knock them over.
Keep the candles abroad from whatsoever manufactures that might catch on fire. Never leave called-for candles unattended. Spread a canvass of aluminum foil underneath the chanukiah so that it doesn't drip hot wax on the table.

Advertising

Things You lot'll Need

Menorah
Chanukah candles
Lighter or matchbook

About This Article

Thanks to all authors for creating a folio that has been read 447,885 times.

Did this article help you?