I had a very interesting revelation last night, if you can call it that.  I felt I should share it regardless.

 

I have been seeing 1's for a long time now too.  Last evening while driving home from a Christmas party, my husband was going thru AM stations trying to catch the end of the foot ball game.  After much searching with nothing coming in, he gave up and turned the radio off.  I glanced at the radio and, being turned off, it now displayed the time of 11:11 pm.  As I looked at it, smiling at seeing the 1's like I do so often, the thought came to me that the 1's looked like candles.  Then I got a picture in my head of a menorah.  I didn't even know for sure if it has 7 or 9 candles....also didn't know when Hanukkah started but I thought, when I get home I'm going to see when it started and what day the 4th candle is lit. 

 

Well, to my surprise it starts on the 20th (I'm sure many of you know this!)  which means the 4th candle is lit on Dec 24th, with the 5th candle representing Jesus (which I did not know either until the recent posts showing O lighting the menorah prematurely)

 

I found this on the website http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/default_cdo/jewish/Hanukkah.htm .....then it gets a bit more interesting...i decided to click on where it says "Menorah lighting instructions" just thinking that sounded interesting, not realizing there would actually be instructions for lighting candles!  Well here is what it said..."The basic elements of a kosher menorah are eight holders for oil or candles and an additional holder, set apart from the rest, for the shamash ("attendant") candle.

The Chanukah lights can either be candle flames or oil-fueled. Since the miracle of Chanukah happened with olive oil – the little cruse of oil that lasted for eight days – an oil menorah is preferable to a candle one, and olive oil is the ideal fuel. Cotton wicks are preferred because of the smooth flame they produce.

Whenever purchasing a mitzvah article, we try to buy the most beautiful one that is within our means. So, if at all possible, go for the silver menorah. Beautifying a mitzvah is our way of expressing our appreciation to G‑d, and showing how dearly we hold His commandments.

The eight candles of the menorah must be arranged in a straight, even line, not in a zigzag or with some lights higher than others. If it is an oil menorah, the oil cups must hold enough oil to burn for the required time – at least 30 minutes on weeknights, and up to one-and-a-half hours on Friday evening (see Special Shabbat Rules). If it is a candle menorah, the candles should be large enough to burn for the required time.

Electric menorahs are great for display purposes, and are a wonderful medium for publicizing the Chanukah miracle. But the Chanukah lights used to fulfill the mitzvah should be real flames fueled by wax or oil – like the flames in the Holy Temple."

 

This brought to mind immediately the story of the 10 virgins and how some ran out of oil and how maybe the menorah lighting is symbolic of this.

 

There is much more about the oil on the site, which again I  find very interesting...."When they reclaimed the Holy Temple, on the 25th of Kislev, they wished to light the Temple’s menorah (candelabrum), only to discover that the Greeks had contaminated virtually all the oil. All that remained was one cruse of pure oil, enough to last one night—and it would take eight days to procure new, pure oil.

Miraculously, the one-day supply of oil lasted eight days and nights, and the holiday of Chanukah was established."

 

Would love to hear any feedback or thoughts from the Doves!