On the Third Night of Chanukah: We Offer Reflections from MSI Press Author Shannon Gonyou
We thank Shannon Gonyou, author of Since Sinai , for the following post: As winter settles in, the days get shorter and the nights grow colder and darker. Winter coats come out of storage and moods begin to darken in tandem with the sky. Against this bleak early-winter backdrop, myriad cultures feature a holiday or festival that largely centers the concept of light or brightness. For Judaism, that holiday is Hanukkah. Dates for Hanukkah are set using the Hebrew calendar, which is lunar rather than solar, so the eight nights that it occupies around December shift around each year. We celebrate the holiday by lighting one candle each night in our hanukkiah (commonly called a menorah) until we have nine candles— one for each night plus the “helper candle” used to light the others— glowing bright against the darkened winter sky. Hanukkah celebrates a historical event rather than a Biblical one. The world Hanukkah means “dedication.” According to legend, during the Second Temple pe