Hanukkah is the Jewish festival of lights, which is celebrated for eight days, by lighting a special candelabrum called a menorah. The festival commemorates the victory of Maccabees, over the Hellenistic Syrians. As per the Jewish tradition, the number of candles to be lit depends on the day of the festival, proceeding to eight lights on the last i.e. eighth night. People also light an extra light throughout the festival, called the shamash. This light prohibits the people from using the Hanukkah lights for any purpose other than meditating on the festival’s original story. Hanukkah lights are lit mainly to illuminate outside of the house, so that the passer-bys can see them and recall the Hanukkah story.

On the first night of Hanukkah, people light one light on the right side of the Menorah. Next night, a light is placed to the left of the first light. Thus, they go on placing the light from right to left and the number goes on increasing per day. On each night, first the leftmost candle is lit and then the lighting proceeds towards the right. The blessings are recited either before or after the candles are lit, as per the tradition. All the members of the family gather around the menorah to recite the blessings. There are typically three blessings that have to be recited during the eight days of the festival. On the first night, all the three blessings are recited, while on the other nights, only the first two are recited.