Lately, I’ve been rethinking how we light the Chanukkah menorah. For thousands of years, Jews have been starting with a single candle on the first night, and increasing each successive night of the holiday. This tradition stems from a well-known talmudic debate between the houses of Hillel and Shammai as to how one should light the Chanukkah menorah. For the most dedicated observers of the holiday, the House of Shammai teaches that a person should start with eight lights, and each night they should reduce one light until there are no more. The House of Hillel, by contrast, teaches that a person should light one candle on the first night, and increase by one light each night of Chanukkah. The reasoning behind the divergence of opinions seems unclear, and a later generation of rabbis debate the rationale for the two approaches.
Rabbi Yosi ben Avin and Rabbi Yosi ben Zevida (4th Century CE) offered two explanations: “Shamai’s custom corresponds to the days which are entering, and Hillel’s to the days that are going out,” claimed the first. The other reasoned that “Shammai’s custom corresponds to the bulls offered on Sukkot, and Hillel’s reminds us that we raise up in holiness and we do not lower (Shabbat 21b).” The latter view has always been given deference in explaining Beit Hillel’s practice, but I’ve always felt Shammai’s opinion has been shortchanged and not properly explained. The association of Shammai’s ritual with the sacrifices of the bulls on Sukkot seems a bit contrived. We find in Numbers 29 that on the 15th day of the seventh month (Sukkot), one is to bring 13 bull offerings to begin the seven day holiday. The following days count down the number of bulls from twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight, and then seven bulls. On the eighth day, one is to bring a single bull for an offering. Other than the successive decreases in the number of bulls, the numbers don’t correspond to how Shammai lights his Chanukkah menorah. There must be some other significance to Shammai’s custom.
A hint as to the proper symbolism of Shammai’s menorah might be found in a rather obscure Talmudic tale. The Talmud relates that in at least one town, Lod, Chanukkah was lamented and not celebrated. A custom emerged in which Jews fasted on Chanukkah because in their day, the Temple was destroyed. It’s not clear as to whether the fast was an eight day fast (probably not), or just a single day. Either way, one would not be eating latkes or sufganyot on Chanukkah in the town of Lod. Two rabbis, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshuah revolted against the idea that Chanukkah should be anything but a celebration. “ You should fast for having fasted,” they tell the people of Lod. Or in other words, “you should atone for having fasted (Rosh HaShanah 18b).” Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua would have been in the camp of the House of Hillel. The people of Lod, I believe, were preserving Shammai’s tradition of understanding the lights of Chanukkah differently.
The lights of Chanukkah from the perspective of Beit Shammai seem to be a representation not of holiness, but destruction. When one looks at the lights of Chanukkah, according to this view, one sees that the Temple is no longer standing, that the Maccabean story is one of war, and that fire is often more destructive than it is holy. Shammai’s tradition recalls that we pray each night of Chanukkah that the fires of destruction and violence will diminish until they are no more.
Should we light our Chanukkah menorahs differently? Probably not, but Shammai’s view certainly feels a little more appropriate in this light.