This Ritual Life Archive
Welcome to This Ritual Life.
Here you will find out about ways to enhance your holiday experience, to celebrate or
mark a meaningful life cycle event, and to deepen your experience of the everyday.
To access the This Ritual Life Archive, click here.
Lighting The Menorah
While Shabbat candles are meant to brighten the table, we place Chanukah candles by the
window. Why dont we display our Chanukah menorah on our table? One reason is pirsum
hanes, to publicize the miracle of Chanukah, but another reason concerns the special
nature of the lights themselves. The Chanukah lights are meant solely for enjoyment
and celebration--they are not to be used for any practical task, like giving light
or making a table more beautiful. We cant look at them and say: "What use can
these lights be to me?" Perhaps this tradition can teach us this: to appreciate,
calmly and joyously, things for just what they are.
Meditation:
May these Chanukah lights help us to appreciate the miracles that we overlook.
Ritual:
Sing the blessings first, and then light your menorah.
Heres how it is done: Place one candle on the right of the menorah, adding one
more candle each subsequent night. After lighting the shames, kindle the newest
light, moving from left to right.
Blessing:
Barukh atah Adonai eloheinu melech haolam, asher kidshanu bmitzvotav,
vitzivanu lhadlik ner shel chanukah.
Blessed is the Holy One who instructs us to light the Chanukah candles.
Barukh atah Adonai eloheinu melech haolam, sheashah nisim
lavoteinu, bayamim haheim, bazman hazeh.
Blessed is the Holy One who made miracles for our ancestors and makes miracles for us.
Teachings:
On the twenty-fifth of Kislev begin the eight days of Chanukah
For when the Greeks
entered the Temple, they defiled all the oils therein, and when the Hasmonean dynasty
prevailed against and defeated them, they made a search and found only one cruse of oil
which lay with the seal of the high Priest, but which contained sufficient for one
days lighting only; yet a miracle was wrought and they were able to light the lamp
for eight days. (TB: Shabbat 21B)
Light is sown for the righteous, and rejoicing for those who are upright in heart (Psalms
96:11)
(CLAL Faculty)
CLAL's National Jewish Resource Center develops and publishes rituals that
help to bridge the gap between our contemporary lives and the ancient wisdom of the Jewish
tradition. We invite you to become a partner with us in thinking about the place of ritual
in our lives and in developing new ritual resources for our time. If you are interested in
being part of this exciting endeavor, visit with us in the Ritual Resource Area
of the CLAL website by clicking here.
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