A greener Hanukkah

Hanukkah—a.k.a. The Festival of Lights—starts this Sunday and runs for eight nights.

The Jewish holiday celebrates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after its desecration in the second century B.C.

According to the Talmud, there was only enough oil to light the eternal flame in the Temple for one night. Miraculously, though, the flame burned for eight days—hence the length of the Hanukkah celebration.

To commemorate that, families light one candle in a menorah on the first night of Hanukkah. Two candles on the second night. Three on the third, etc., until all the candles burn on night eight. Menorahs have a ninth candle that’s used to light the other ones.

I’m not Jewish, but I used to own a menorah for the beauty of it. If your menorah has seen better days, has gone missing like mine, or you just want to peek at some cleverly earth-friendly ones, check out these links:

This menorah by Jenna Goldberg uses recycled olive oil cans (appropriately so, since it was olive oil that was used to light the eternal flame in the Temple!) in its design.

Notschlock, a company founded to offer hip-looking religious products, sells this Menorah made from recycled  steel pipes.

I don’t know if it’s “green” or not, but for looks this tree-of-life menorah is my favorite. I’m a sucker for design that blends folk art with a modern feel.

This wooden menorah for sale on Etsy is made by an artisan in New Jersey. I think it’s clever how the star shapes interlock with one another.

If the price tags on those Menorahs hurt your eyeballs, make your own using wood scraps following these directions or check out these ideas from an article in the Contra Costa Times.

When choosing candles for a menorah, consider ones made from natural materials such as beeswax or soy rather than typical paraffin wax candles, which don’t burn clean.

Happy Hanukkah!