▷ How Many Candles Lit During Hanukkah?

The number of candles lit throughout the eight day festival of Hanukkah varies from year to year. As the days of Hanukkah are determined by the Jewish lunar calendar, when the dates fall and which day falls on which night changes slightly each year.

The holiday of Hanukkah celebrates the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem following its liberation from the Syrian-Greeks. It is also known as the Festival of Lights and celebrates the miracle of a day’s worth of oil that kept the Temple Menorah’s flame burning for eight days. Hanukkalliyah, or Hanukkah candles, are used to commemorate the miracle and are lit to mark the eight days of the holiday.

How Many Candles Should be Lit During Hanukkah?

The number of candles that are lit on any given day of the Hanukkah festival will depend on which night that the day falls on. The exception is the eighth night, which is always the same regardless of where it falls in the calendar year. On the first night of Hanukkah, one candle is lit; on the second night, two candles; three on the third night; and so on. On the eighth and final night of Hanukkah, all of the Hanukkalliyah – usually nine – are lit.

The Tallying of the Candles

The tallying of how many candles should be lit is done by using a set of rules known as the halach, or Jewish law. In the Ashkenazi, or European Jewish tradition, a special Hanukkah menorah, or nine-branched candelabrum, is lit. The ninth branch is the shamash, or helper candle, and is used to light the other eight candles. This is the traditional ceremony and all rules strictly adhered to.

In the Sephardic, or Middle Eastern Jewish tradition, an alternative method of lighting is used. In this tradition, there is no shamash, and instead, all eight candles are lit at once. Furthermore, in this tradition, the counting of the candles is not necessarily done in ascending order as in the Ashkenazi tradition.

The Blessing of the Candles

Regardless of the tradition used, there is one universal blessing recited on each night before lighting the menorah. In Hebrew, it is recited as:

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha’olam, asher kidishanu b’mitzvotav v’tsivanu l’hadlik ner shel Hanukkah.

This translates to something like, “Blessed be you our Lord, who has sanctified us through His commandments, and commanded us to light the Hanukkah candles.”

Hanukkah is a festive holiday that celebrates the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem and the miraculous oil that kept the Menorah burning for eight days. The candle lighting ceremony is an important aspect of the holiday, and the amount of candles lit will vary each night depending on which tradition is used to light the menorah – Ashkenazi or Sephardic. The blessing for the lighting of the candles is recited before the actual lighting each night and any violations of the guidelines should be corrected as quickly as possible.

As Hanukkah approaches, we can be sure that the custom of lighting the menorah will be alive and strong, and the number of candles lit will be determined by the night that Hanukkah falls on each year.

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Last update 2023-11-27. Price and product availability may change.