Editing Temple menorah (section)

==Symbolism==
===Judaism===
[[File:Eshtemoa_menorah.jpg|thumb|150px|Seven-branched menorah, [[Eshtemoa synagogue]] (4th–5th century CE). [[Rockefeller Museum]]]]

The menorah symbolized the ideal of universal enlightenment.<ref>Chanan Morrison, Abraham Isaac Kook, ''Gold from the Land of Israel: A New Light on the Weekly Torah Portion - From the Writings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaKohen Kook'', page 239 (Urim Publications, 2006). {{ISBN|965-7108-92-6}}</ref> The idea that the menorah symbolizes wisdom is noted in the Talmud, for example, in the following: "Rabbi Isaac said: He who desires to become wise should incline to the south [when praying]. The symbol [by which to remember this] is that… the Menorah was on the southern side [of the Temple]."<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Epstein|editor1-first=Isadore|title=Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Baba Bathra|date=1976|publisher=Soncino Press|isbn=978-0900689642|page=12a|edition=English and Hebrew}}</ref>

The seven lamps allude to the branches of human [[knowledge]], represented by the six lamps inclined inwards towards, and symbolically guided by, the light of [[God]] represented by the central lamp. The menorah also symbolizes the creation in seven days, with the center light representing the [[Shabbat|Sabbath]].<ref name= Birnbaum366/>

==== Hannukah menorah ====
{{main|Hanukkah menorah}}

[[File:19th_century_Hanukkah_lamp_from_Austria-Hungary_-_Musée_d'Art_et_d'Histoire_du_Judaïsme.jpg|thumb|19th century Hanukkah menorah from [[Austria-Hungary]]. [[Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme]]]]
A nine-branched menorah is also a symbol closely associated with the Jewish holiday of [[Hanukkah]]. According to the [[Talmud]], after the [[Seleucid]] desecration of the Jewish [[Temple in Jerusalem]], there was only enough sealed (and therefore not desecrated) consecrated olive oil left to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, which was enough time to make new pure oil.

The [[Babylonian Talmud|Talmud]] states that it is prohibited to use a seven-lamp menorah outside of the Temple.<ref>[[Menahot]] 28b</ref> A Hanukkah menorah therefore has eight main branches, plus the raised ninth lamp set apart as the ''shamash'' (servant) light which is used to kindle the other lights. The word ''shamash'' was not originally a "Hanukkah word" and only became associated with the holiday in the 16th century although it first appeared in the Mishnah (c. 200 C.E.) and Talmud (c. 500 C.E.).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=George |date=15 November 2018 |title=Jewish Word:Shamash |url=https://momentmag.com/jewish-word-shamash/ |website=Moment Magazine |language=en |access-date=5 April 2021 |archive-date=8 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508165810/https://momentmag.com/jewish-word-shamash/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This type of menorah is called a ''hanukkiah'' in [[Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew|Modern Hebrew]].<ref name="Birnbaum366" />

==== Kabbalah and the symbol of light{{Citation needed|reason=Completely unclear section|date=December 2024}} ====
{{Blockquote|This is alluded to in the verses: "Though I walk through the valley of the deepest darkness, I will fear no evil, because You are with me"<ref>''[[Book of psalms]]''</ref> and "because even if I have fallen, I will rise again; even if I feel in the darkness, [[Hashem]] is my light. "Let the light of Divinity perceptions descend into the depths of "darkness ", into "the valley of the deepest darkness", to illuminate the lowest, so that even that light and consciousness of Divinity reaches them, so that He can heal and correct them to return them to Him.<ref>Rabbi Nathan, Moshe Mykoff. ''Likutey Halajot: ORAJ JAIM Hashkamat Haboker'' [[Breslov Research Institute]]</ref>}}

In Kabbalah ''Or Panim'' ("the light of the Face") is a fundamental conception for the process called [[Tohu and Tikun|Tikkun]]. All the ''Kavvanot'', the spiritual measures of faith for the realization of the Kingdom of God, focus on the manifestation of the ''Or Panim''; actually darkness is in itself a negative element, that is, it does not give the [[hope]] of obtaining complete devotion: "darkness" is like an inaccessible place, darkness conceals the depth of the gaze; in [[Chassidut]] ''an awakening from below'' is the "service" for God, i.e. the [[Avodah]]{{Citation needed|reason=Incomprehensible punctuation pangram without reference|date=December 2024}}.

During the victory of the [[Holiness in Judaism|Kedushah]] in Hanukkah, the [[Kohen Gadol]] almost declared that ''divine light'' must triumph. When the risk of "fall" can do the loss of [[faith]] in the Jewish religion as the abyss of Israel's personal and collective identity, the Kohen Gadol thus insists for the "awakening" of the most distant [[soul]]s in order to direct them with [[Kavanah]] towards the fulfillment of the [[Mitzvot]]: ''...because the [[Torah]] is the light and the [[Mitzvah]] is a lamp''{{Citation needed|reason=Incomprehensible punctuation pangram without reference|date=December 2024}}.

===Christianity===
[[File:Menorah (Temple) מנורת בית המקדש Temple vessels Vatican מדלייה שיצא עי הוותיקן בשנת 1590 בעת מינוי האפיפיור אורבנוס השביעיאורבנוס.JPG|thumb|Reverse of 1590 coin in honor of [[Urban VII]] with menorah and the legend<br />SIC•LUCEAT•LUX•VESTRA<br />(Let your light so shine – [[Matthew 5:15–16|Matt. 5:16)]] |150x150px]]
The New Testament [[Book of Revelation]] refers to a mystery of seven golden lampstands representing seven churches.<ref>Rev. 1:12,20</ref> The messages to the seven churches from Jesus Christ found have at least four applications: (1) a local application to the specific cities and believers in the church; (2) to all the churches of all generations; (3) a prophetic application unveiling seven distinct phases of church history from the days of the apostle John until today; (4) a personal application to individual believers who have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying.<ref>Rev. 1. TPT version, translator's footnote 'ax'</ref>

According to [[Clement of Alexandria]] and [[Philo Judaeus]], the seven lamps of the golden menorah represented the seven [[classical planet]]s in this order: the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.<ref>p.10, ''Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry'' by Albert Pike (L.H. Jenkins, 1871 [1948])</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=February 2021}}

It is also said to symbolize the [[burning bush]] as seen by [[Moses]] on [[Mount Horeb]].<ref>{{bibleverse||Exodus|3|HE}}</ref><ref>Robert Lewis Berman, ''A House of David in the Land of Jesus'', page 18 (Pelican, 2007). {{ISBN|978-1-58980-720-4}}</ref>[[File:Bazilica of The Assumption, Brno.jpg|thumb|The giant menorah from the 14th century in the [[Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady, Brno]]|225x225px]][[Kevin Conner]] has noted of the original menorah, described in Exodus 25, that each of the six tributary branches coming out of the main shaft was decorated with three sets of "cups... shaped like almond blossoms... a bulb and a flower..." (Exodus 25:33, NASB).<ref>NASB, The Lockman Foundation, 1995</ref> This would create three sets of three units on each branch, a total of nine units per branch. The main shaft, however, had four sets of blossoms, bulbs and flowers, making a total of twelve units on the shaft (Exodus 25:34). This would create a total of 66 units, which Conner claims is a picture of the [[Protestant]] canon of scripture (containing 66 books). Moreover, Conner notes that the total decorative units on the shaft and three branches equate to 39 (the number of Old Testament books within Protestant versions of the Bible); and the units on the remaining three branches come to 27 (the number of New Testament books).<ref>Kevin Conner, The Tabernacle of Moses, City Christian Publishing (1976), p43</ref> Conner connects this to Bible passages that speak of God's word as a light or lamp (e.g. Psalms 119:105; Psalms 119:130; cf. Proverbs 6:23).<ref>Kevin Conner, The Tabernacle of Moses, City Christian Publishing (1976), p43-44</ref>

In the [[Byzantine Rite]] the use of the menorah has been preserved, always standing on or behind the [[altar]] in the sanctuary.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hapgood |first=Isabel |author-link=Isabel Hapgood |title=Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church |year=1975 |orig-year=1922 |edition=5th |page=xxx |place=Englewood NJ |publisher=[[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese]] |isbn=978-148104918-4}}</ref> Though candles may be used, the traditional practice is to use olive oil in the seven-lamp lampstand. There are varying liturgical practices, and usually all seven lamps are lit for the services, though sometimes only the three centermost are lit for the lesser services. If the church does not have a [[sanctuary lamp]] the centermost lamp of the seven lamps may remain lit as an [[eternal flame]].