The menorah was a large candelabra with seven branches located within the Temple shrine in Jerusalem. The menorah was lit and cleaned by the priests every day. The menorah used on the holiday of Chanukkah is called a chanukkiah, and it has nine branches.
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Divine DesignsTANAKH
Divine Designs
TANAKH
God offers detailed instructions regarding the seven-branched candelabra, the menorah, that would illuminate the inner part of the mishkan, the Israelites’ portable Temple during their sonjourn in the desert. Note the detail and care in this description, a sign of the menorah’s ritual significance.
An Eternal LightTANAKH
An Eternal Light
TANAKH
The ner tamid — or “eternal light” — in the modern synagogue is an electric light that is always on, hanging in front of the ark to remind us of the menorah of the ancient Temples. In antiquity, the ner tamid was lit from evening until morning.
Clear Oil of Beaten Olives MIDRASH
Clear Oil of Beaten Olives
MIDRASH
The Torah offered quite specific instructions as to what kind of oil may be used to light the menorah in the mishkan, the Israelites’ portable desert Temple. The early medieval Midrash Tanchuma explores the different types of oil that are permissible for fulfilling different purposes, the lighting of shabbat candles, of festival lights, and of the menorah.
Let There Be Lights MIDRASH
Let There Be Lights
MIDRASH
What is the relationship between the heavenly lights, the sun and the moon, and the menorah? The early medieval Midrash Tanchuma connects biblical verses to show how the mishkan — the Israelites’ portable Temple in the desert — is a microcosm of creation.
Hammered in the Shadow of GodMIDRASH
Hammered in the Shadow of God
MIDRASH
The Torah recounts God’s instructions to Moses as to how to craft the menorah and tells how the skilled craftsman Bezalel — whose name means “in the shadow of God” — executed God’s designs. This midrash from the medieval midrashic collection Bamidbar Rabbah recounts that Moses had a hard time keeping God’s design in mind.
The Miracle of the OilSECOND TEMPLE
The Miracle of the Oil
SECOND TEMPLE
The story of the rededication of the Temple after the Hasmonean victory over the Seleucids in 164 BCE is the historical basis for the lighting of the channukiyah, reminiscent of the Temple’s menorah. The apocryphal Scroll of Antiochus recounts the miracle of the oil.
Keep Lighting the Lights COMMENTARY
Keep Lighting the Lights
COMMENTARY
We remember the commandment to keep the Temple menorah lit by continuing to light our chanukkiyahs on Chanukkah. The biblical commentary of the great 18th-century Rabbi Hayyim Joseph David Azulay, better known as the Chida, presents a gematriah — an interpretation based on the numerical value of Hebrew letters — to explain why this mitzvah (commandment) endures.
