The miracle of Chanukah is in the story of the victory of the Maccabim over the Greek army and that in rededicating the holy Temple, the oil that was found was only enough for one day, but burned for eight. These were effects and as we know, effects can never be causes. Causes are found in the spiritual world; effects are part of this world of malchut.

“Our world is filled with mysteries, and it is in the darkest months of the year, that the most luminous energy becomes available. The hidden is revealed and its radiance is accessible to all those who wish to partake and be nourished by it.”
-Rabbi Michael Ozair

Here in this realm, we are in the process of transformation and learning to reach higher levels of consciousness. The Chanukah lights act like an antenna for holiness. As each day passes, the light of the menorah grows increasingly stronger. We place our menorahs in the window to remind the world that darkness can indeed be dispelled, obscurity can be illuminated and that it is the Light of the Creator that will prevail in the end.

The Chanukah menorah or chanukiah has eight branches plus one in the middle for the shamash candle. Only put the candles needed for each day in the menorah. We should never extinguish holiday or Shabbat candles; we are to let them burn out completely on their own. When standing in front of the menorah, put the candle(s) in the menorah for the day, starting from the right (right to left just as Hebrew is written).

We always light the shamash first and then use the shamash to light the other candles of the menorah. On the first night, simply light the first candle, put the shamash back in its place in the middle holder. Recite the blessings for Lighting The Menorah and you then may continue with the rest of the blessings and songs in this connection. On the second and subsequent nights, you light the shamash and then use the shamash to light the candle of that night first and then light the rest of the candles (from left to right). So on the second night you will light the second candle and then the first candle.
On Shabbat, we light the menorah before lighting Shabbat candles since we should not light any candles after them.

	View Our Chanukah Conference Call Schedule Have you made plans to join us for our Chanukah connection?  Go to the Calendar page for more details.
	Make Your Own Chanukah Connection If you aren't able to join us on the conference calls and would like to make your own connection, Click Here to download the FREE K4A Chanukah Connection.
	Decorate Your Desktop For Chanukah We have created a festive desktop wallpaper for you to use for Chanukah.  We plan on offering new wallpapers for all months of the year.  Simply Click Here to go to our Desktop Wallpaper page.