Editing Temple menorah (section)

===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}}.