Expanding light

Over the long centuries, the menorah’s candles have shone into the recesses of our souls, illuminating the darkest times with their radiant message of hope, endurance, and everlasting light.

The holiday of Hanukkah, now fast approaching, commemorates the victory of the Torah’s light over the darkness of Hellenistic paganism. This is represented visually by the Hanukkah menorah, which we light for eight days.

The Hanukkah menorah is derived from the seven-branched Temple Menorah, which was rekindled after the Maccabean victory from the miraculous jug of oil that burned for eight days.

Since the destruction of the Temple, a little more than two centuries later, we no longer have the Temple menorah. But the Hanukkah menorah, the hanukkiah, with its added branch remains.

Over the long centuries, the menorah’s candles have shone into the recesses of our souls, illuminating the darkest times with their radiant message of hope, endurance, and everlasting light.

Appropriately, the menorah is one of the symbols of the renewed Jewish state.

And thus, our sages urge us to pause after lighting our hanukkiah and meditate on its supernatural radiance.

Moreover, by placing the hanukkiah in the window or outside our door, we “publicize the miracle.” The windows in the Temple were designed with openings that broadened outwards so that the light of the menorah spread outward, filling the streets of Jerusalem with an aura of illumination. 

https://www.jpost.com/judaism/jewish-holidays/article-834139