How to Light the Menorah

Series Summary

Jewish traditions are religious and cultural traditions kept or celebrated by the various Jewish communities around the world. Judaism is a world religion set firmly in ethnic identity and the scriptures of the Tanakh, which includes the Torah, and the interpretations and explanations of scripture collected in the Talmud. Jews trace their ethnic beginnings back to the figure of Abraham, his son Isaac and their descendant Jacob (Israel), while their religious beginnings are often centered on the figure of Moses, who is said to have written the Torah and founded the Law. After the city of Jerusalem was conquered in the first century A.D., the Jews spread and lived in Diaspora around the world. In this free video series on Jewish traditions, Russ Handler teaches about many traditions of Passover, Hanukkah, and Bar or Bat Mitzvahs. Handler shares his own Jewish heritage by offering advice on planning Bar Mitzvahs and choosing gifts. He also discusses Hanukkah traditions like gift giving, lighting the Menorah, the driedel and others. Passover is easy with Handler's explanations of setting the Seder table, staying Kosher and hiding the Afikoman.

Video Transcript

"Hello, I'm Russ Handler and another look at Hanukkah. Boy, one of my favorite times of the year and when you're lighting the Menorah, there's a couple of ceremonial ways in which you need to do it. So, study this article next to us very closely. I'll give you a little overview. Couple things you'll need. First, your Menorah, does not have to be anything big or huge. Some Hanukkah candles, and a safe lighter or some stick candles. You may also have a more traditional oil burning Menorah as well. It's pretty simple. We have something called the Shamash, which is the main candle. Let's pretend it's the first night of Hanukkah, we've already said our first prayer, it's time now to light the Shamash. Now, while that's illuminated, we're going to allow one of the children, perhaps, or a couple of the children together to light the first candle while the Shamash is burning. Now, as we do so we do recite the prayer as listed on the side of this article. Blessed are you, Lord our god, king of the universe who performed miracles for our ancestors at this season in days past. After we've done that, we're going to set our main candle, also known as the Shamash, here in the Shamash holder, which is generally in the center. Then, what we're going to do, is we're going to sit back, we're going to dim the lights, we're going to enjoy some Hanukkah gifts, and we're going to watch this beautiful Menorah burn down to the end. Now repeat this step for the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth nights of Hanukkah. And you have a blessed and happy Hanukkah. I'm Russ Handler and I look forward to seeing you in Temple."