Why does the Hanukkah menorah have nine candles instead of seven?

The seven-branched Menorah is a symbol of Judaism, dating back to the time of the second Temple. You may have seen this image from the Arch of Titus showing Rome’s sacking of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Today, it’s also the symbol for the Israeli Knesset.

By Halachah (traditional Jewish law), it’s forbidden to use or make items that were used in the Temple in Jerusalem, although there is no consensus on whether you can use items that are similar but not exact.  You can get an overview of the ins and outs of this prohibition here https://torah.org/torah-portion/weekly-halacha-5772-behaaloscha/. So naturally, a Chanukah menorah would need eight lights, corresponding to the eight days of Chanukah.

The more interesting question, though, is this: Why does the Chanukah menorah (Chanukiah) have 9 candles instead of 8 (for the 8 nights of Chanukah)?

 The answer to that is not quite as straightforward.

You probably know that the ninth candle, known as the “shamash” is used to light the other candles. But its use doesn’t got back as far as Chanukah does. This article explores the questions surrounding when and why the shamash developed. In a nutshell, a flame has always been needed to light the Chanukah lights (remember that before there were candles, any lampstand used oil and wicks), but it wasn’t necessarily part of the menorah. At some point, it became customary – and then traditional -  for the ninth light to be part of a Chanukah menorah – although it’s generally set off in some way from the other eight.

Of course, all our Chanukiot have nine lights. Our ChanuBox includes a choice of menorah, or they can be bought separately. Shop for everything Chanukah here

We offer four different little chanukiot - the fourth is in the other picture.

Our ChanuBox offers a choice of chanukiah, plus other Chanukah essentials.