Lighting of the Temple Menorah, The

The menorah, its lamps, and the flames they hold are the very mirror of our identity as a people, the way we interact with each other, and of the elemental strivings of the human soul

“Aaron did so; he lit the lamps toward the face of the menorah” (Numbers 8:3). We contrast a chassidic and a non-chassidic interpretation of this verse in order to highlight the revolution that chassidic teachings have brought to our understanding of G-d,...

Long before the Maccabees, there was the original menorah that was lit in the Holy Temple as part of the daily ritual officiated by the priests. How was the menorah lit? What purpose did it serve?

Lighting up another means helping to ignite his latent abilities by appreciating his unique role and mission in this world.

By law, the menorah stood in a chamber into which only kohanim (priests) were permitted entry. But the law also states that an ordinary person may light the menorah. What is the point—and lesson—of this legal paradox?