Menorah

The Menorah goes back to the Exodus, when God instructed Moses to make a golden lampstand with seven lamps for use in the Tabernacle - the portable tent sanctuary the Israelites carried in the wilderness. The Menorah was then used in the Temple once it was established in Jerusalem. This was the lamp that burned miraculously for eight nights when the Temple was rededicated. In modern usage the Menorah has nine candles. This is in part because the seven-lamp Menorah was reserved by the rabbis for Temple use (impossible since its destruction by the Romans), and also because there are eight candles for the eight nights of Hanukkah, plus one more, the 'servant candle' used to light the others. During the festival of Hanukkah, each night an additional candle is lit as the blessings are recited, so that by the end of the holiday the whole Menorah is lit.

There are just way too many LEGO Menorah's out there for me to do a comprehensive listing, so I'll just show a few. One of my favorites is by Eli and his mom. I really love how serious he looks in that picture as he's 'lighting' his Menorah.


Dave Kaleta built this one as a gift for a friend's son. More on the Hebrew script in my next post. That one also has a slide-out drawer to keep the candles, and the other side has 'Hannukah' spelled out in LEGO.
These don't have to be so elaborate. This one by DrMom is really fun. I like how the yellow bricks are for the lit candles.


This blog post highlights a number of Menorahs, ranging from very simple to elaborate sculptures.