Congregation Beth Ha'Mashiach
(House of the Messiah) - Worshipping ADONAI
& His Messiah, Yeshua Ha'Mashiach
Living & teaching as our
Messiah taught us to Live
Messianic
Congregation serving Northeast Atlanta Georgia (Gwinnett, Barrow, Dekalb,
Rockdale, Walton)
Phone 770
554-2867 - email:
rabbi@cbhm.org
Messianic Congregation located
in Metro Atlanta serving Snellville, Lawrenceville, Loganville, Georgia
Messianic
Jewish Candle Lighting Ceremony For Hanukah
In
seeking a practical expression for this holy day, believers in Messiah
Yeshua can incorporate many beautiful traditions. The observance is
centered on the hanukiyah (9 candle menorah) and what it represents. Each
evening during Hanukah family and friends gather to light the
hanukiyah
with the appropriate number of candles. The branches of the hanukiyah
represent the eight days of Hanukah, plus one shamash candle used to light
the others.
Note:
the appropriate numbers of candles are placed in the hanukiyah from right
to left, yet they are kindled by the shamash from left to right.
On
the first night of Hanukah, after sundown, the shamash (servant) candle is
lit, which in turn is used to kindle the first candle in the Menorah. The
second night, we light the shamash again and use it to light the two right
candles. This continues through the eight nights of the Hanukah.
During
the lighting of the shamash and the appropriate number of candles, the
following blessings are chanted:
(Traditional)
Blessed
are You O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with
Your commandments, and commanded us to light Hanukah lights. Baruch Ata Adonai Elohaynu Melech ha-olam, ah-sher kid-shah-nu
b'mitz-voh-tayv v'tzee-vah-nu l'had-leek ner shel Hanukah.
Blessed
are You O Lord our God, King of the universe, who performed miracles for
our fathers in those days at this season. Baruch Ata Adonai Elohaynu Melech ha-olam, she-ah-sah ni-seem la-ah-vo-tay-nu
ba-ya-meem ha-hem baz-man ha-zeh.
(Messianic
version)
Blessed
are You O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has given us holidays,
customs, and times of happiness, to increase the knowledge of God and to
build us up in our most holy faith.
Note:
Traditionally, the candles are lit from right to left. The first candle is
placed on the right side of the Menorah, and the second one placed
directly to the left. But lighting them starts from the left and moves to
the right. Thus the first candle that is lit is the new candle added for
that day. The Shammash candle (the tallest) is used to light the others.
Whoever wishes to be first among you shall be the servant of all. For even
the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His
life a ransom for many.
Exodus
13:21-22 reveals that God is the source of Israel's light:
And the Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead
them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that
they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of
cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
King
David reminds us in Psalm 27:1 and Psalm 18:28 that God Himself is the
source of our own individual light:
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the
defense of my life; whom shall I dread? For You light my lamp; the Lord my
God illumines my darkness.
Psalm
119:105 and Psalm 119:130 describe the light that comes from God's Word:
Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path. The unfolding of
Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
Fifth
Candle
Messiah
Yeshua is the greatest light of all:
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines
in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it (John 1:4-5). As
Messiah Yeshua was in the Temple in Jerusalem watching the illuminating
lights, He declared: "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me
shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life"
(John 8:12). Aged Simeon was promised by the Lord that he would not die
until he saw Israel's Messiah. When he saw Yeshua as an infant in the
Temple, he knew that this One was the light of Israel and the Nations.
Simeon declared: "My eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have
prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the
gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel" (Luke 2:30-32). For
God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One
who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Messiah (2 Corinthians 4:6).
