December 10, 2012
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Happy Hanukkah!
Day Two - Menorahs!
Next up in the line of Hanukkah posts – the Traditional Menorah Post!! Which is really kewl to me, because I love Menorahs. Seriously. Because the Menorah has SOOO much more meaning than just Hanukkah. The number of candles is so significant – one for each feast.
1 – Hanukkah: Messiah’s Conception, light of the world
Those candles tell the story of our Creator and His plan. How anyone can reject THAT, I don’t know. It’s… special. Incredible. Unfathomable. I love to just look at it and know what it all means for ME, for my present as well as my future. The menorah symbolizes SO much. And I get to light up a little more of it every day. That DOES something to me… right there. It’s bigger than We three kings from Orient are… it’s THE King’s journey, start to finish. It doesn’t get any more encompassing than that.
2 – Purim: freedom from oppression
3 – Pesach: Messiah’s gift of Salvation
4 – Unleavened Bread: His ministry for 3 days to those passed
5 – Firstfruits: Messiah’s resurrection, victory over death
6 - Shavuot: The Spirit given to all who believe
7 – Rosh Ha’Shanah: His promise to His own
8 – Yom Kippur: Messiah’s judgment on the world
9 – Sukkot: Forever with Yahweh, King of all!To those who don’t really own the faith that the claim, the Menorah is a bit simpler to explain: the Jews were oppressed and forbidden to celebrate any of their feasts. Antiochus Epiphanes (from Daniel’s prophecies) took over the temple and brought abominations and idols in, desecrating it. Led by Judas Maccabee, the Jews revolted, fought Antiochus (a twist on ‘anti-christ’!) and sent the oppressors packing. When they cleaned out the temple, they found only enough oil to light the lamp for one day, and it would take eight days to get the oil they needed to keep it burning. They lit it, anyhow – with the one-day supply. And ‘A Great Miracle Happened There‘ – the one-day supply lasted EIGHT days… long enough for the oil supply to be refurbished. That’s the reason for the eight day celebration, although of course there are underlying meanings, as always!
The first two years we had a real Menorah, but let’s face it – you can’t keep a real Menorah lit for eight days and nights straight. It’s not only a fire hazard, but a LOT of candle you go thru. So as an alternative we made menorah’s for the kids… out of toilet paper rolls. Cut them in half, all except the center roll. Tape strips of colored paper around them, adding glitter or color, if you choose. ((We kept it simple and just drew Stars of David on ours – writing on something round isn’t easy when you’re eight.)) Affix them together with glue or tape. (I’m a tape hound.) The idea is to fill them daily with tissue paper, to look like they have a flame. And they turned out something like this:
Lydia’s, upon making it, and Isaac’s after being ‘lit’.
((I know – when we started, we did it backwards. D’oh!!!))And yes, there were only SEVEN candles in the kids’ menorahs. Two reasons: first, I only had so many toilet paper rolls. Heck, I didn’t have enough for Ethan to have one – he got to light my ‘real’ one, instead. And the second reason is because at that time, I believed that Leviticus 23 only has seven feasts listed – so some menorahs IRL only have seven with that same idea. I used to prefer seven, but the other two feasts are starting to grow on me as I adjust to the changes from Churchianity to Truth – Hanukkah and Purim are both Biblical, and both important to Yehovah’s eternal story. And THIS year I found something out, and I’ll share in a day or two. It should be nine. I totally see the relevance.
I set out another year to find other ideas… and there are a few out there. Just nothing that I like better than the toilet paper roll menorahs that we did. But in case you were wondering, here are a few ideas I stumbled across; you can click on the pictures to get to the link that tells how to make them.
Combine gelt/gifts with this menorah sack idea from DesignMegillah
Matchbox Menorah by Spoonful.com
Last year I got crafty and crocheted myself a menorah… that’s what we’re using this year. I did a whole post on how I made ‘em and such way back here: http://anna.xanga.com/718563506/item/
And last year, I added a votive candle menorah of scented small candle jars from the dollar store, because I really do prefer the candlelight glow. I was inspired by this:
Decoupage votive menorah by MakezineAnyhow, I just thought I’d show you what I’ve got going, give you some ideas in case you were looking, and tell you a little bit about menorahs! And here’s a video, for fun:
