Hanukkah may have multiple names, the Feast of Lights, the Feast of Dedication, and multiple spelling variations, Chanukah, Chanukkah, but the Jewish holiday is all about the celebration of two extraordinary miracles, a remarkable Jewish military victory and an inexplicable supply of oil in order to light the temple.
Light and hope are central to Hanukkah, with family and friends joining each night of the eight-day festival to light the symbolic candles of the menorah. The tradition celebrates and reminds the faithful of the Jewish triumph over darkness, and the miracle of light. This year’s Hanukkah celebrations will begin on the eve of December 12, when families will light the first candle on the first night, with the lighting of candles to follow on the second day, continuing each night until the eighth night on December 20, when all of the candles have been lit.
With Hanukkah steadily approaching, we have collected 14 quotes to celebrate and prepare for the highly anticipated holiday!
“Kindle the taper like the steadfast star Ablaze on evening's forehead o'er the earth, And add each night a lustre till afar An eightfold splendor shine above thy hearth.”—Emma Lazarus, "The Feast of Lights"
“Colorful candles burning bright, each lit on eight very special nights.” —Unknown
“May the lights of Hanukkah usher in a better world for all humankind.” —Unknown
“Eight days the light continued on its own: A miracle, they say, but not more so Than ordinary lives of flesh and bone, Consuming wicks burned ashen long ago” —Nicholas Gordon
“Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame Blessed is the flame that burns in the secret fastness of the heart” —Hannah Senesh
“To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle, Every cubic inch of space is a miracle.” —Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
“The miracle, of course, was not that the oil for the sacred light - in a little cruse - lasted as long as they say; but that the courage of the Maccabees lasted to this day: let that nourish my flickering spirit.” —Charles Reznikoff, "Meditations on the Fall and Winter Holidays"
“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.”—Buddha
“On Hanukkah, the first dark night, Light yourself a candle bright. I'll you, if you will me invite To dance within that gentle light.”—Nicholas Gordon
“May love and light fill your home and heart at Hanukkah.” —Unknown “I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders.” —Jewish Proverb “Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”—Chinese Proverb
“Still ours the dance, the feast, the glorious Psalm, The mystic lights of emblem, and the Word.”—Emma Lazarus, "The Feast of Lights"
“The darkness of the whole world cannot swallow the glowing of a candle.”—Robert Altinger
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