Hanukkah celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over adulteration, of spirituality over materiality .When they sought to light the Temple's menorah (the seven branched candelabrum), 21 centuries ago the Holy Land was ruled by the (Syrian-Greeks) so they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks; miraculously, the one-day supply burned for eight days, until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity.
...To commemorate and publicize these miracles, the sages instituted the festival of Chanukah. At the heart of the festival is the nightly menorah (candelabrum) lighting: a single flame on the first night, two on the second evening, and so on till the eighth night of Chanukah, when all eight lights are kindled.
On Chanukah we also add the Hallel and Al HaNissim in our daily prayers to offer praise and thanksgiving to G-d for "delivering the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few... the wicked into the hands of the righteous." Tonight at sundown Hanukkah begins! God calls all of His people to Honor His Festivals!
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