It’s the second night of Chanukah, and here is my hanukkiah (the specific word for what we often call a menorah). The dreidel came with a box of Godiva chocolates from my friend Kim (hi, Kim!), who sent me a box of mints this year. Yum. Mints.
The reason there are three candles is because the one on the far right is the shammus, the one you light the rest with. My grandfather used only one for all eight days, but my brothers and I always like the extra light.
You have to light the candles before Shabbat on Friday, which led to a frantic amount of activity at Sarah’s yesterday—she forgot to leave the candles out for me, and she had already gone out to pick up dinner. So the kids and I searched, found a set of candles that were way too nice to be used, and instead, made two beeswax candles from the make-a-candle kit.
Jake, the oldest, got a huge kick out of trying to beat the clock. “Hurry! We have like two minutes!” I told him. He insisted he could do it in time. He was right.
Tonight, you light the candles after Shabbat is over. Yes, it’s confusing, but that’s why the last line of the song “De Ganza Mishpacha” is “It’s difficult being a Jew!”
Difficult, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.
I don’t see what is confusing about it.
1. We are not allowed to light a fire on Shabbat
2. The Chanuka lights must burn for half an hour after full dark (which starts one hour after shabbat candlelighting time).
That is one reason why I use oil to begin with. Other people use shabbat candles Friday night.
In any case, the two basic principles explain why we light early on Friday and wait until after Shabbat to light.
See “simple as a pimple”.
Happy Chanukah Meryl !!
Confusing to others, not to Jews, Sabba Hillel. That’s what I meant.