Hanukkiah

It may seem intuitive to us that we light the Hanukkiah adding one candle each night. Yet the Rabbis of the Talmud debated how the Hanukkiah should be lit. The school of Shammai maintained that eight candles should be lit on the first night and on each subsequent night we would light one less candle. The school of Hillel, however, held that we would light one candle on the first day and increase the number of candles we light. We know that Hillel’s practice won out and the Rabbis of the Talmud tried to figure out why. They offer the idea that we increase the number of candles we light each night because when it comes to matters of holiness, we increase instead of decrease. They apply this principle to the lights of the Hanukkiah but also to all aspects of our lives. What are ways that we ensure we are increasing in holiness and not decreasing? Let’s use the light of the Hanukkiah as a reminder of the ways we can continue to bring more holiness into our lives and the lives of those around us.