Hanukkah Day Six: On being a lamp stand

The most common symbol of Hanukkah is a nine-branch candelabra, called a Hanukiah or Hanukah Menorah. Eight of the lights represent the eight days of Hanukah. On the first evening (the Jewish day begins at sundown) one candle is lit and then an additional candle is lit on each subsequent evening until all eight are lit on the final evening. The special ninth candle is called the Shamash or the "servant ". Its purpose is to light the other lights and is always offset from the others. This way the purpose of the eight lights is preserved, whose sole purpose is to proclaim the miracle of Hanukkah and nothing else.

Hanukkah happened partly because the Jewish people had forgotten their purpose. Having been called to be a light to the nations, their light had all but extinguished. The people were beginning to adopt the customs of the prevailing culture and neglected those things that distinguished them from the rest of the world.

In order to be what we are called to be we need to be what we are called to be. Obvious perhaps? Yes, but it is so easy to neglect what distinguishes us from the rest of the world. To be the lights we are called to be, we must make sure that we don't give ourselves to other purposes.