Economies Of Effort
(Economies Of Effort) Today is the First Day of Hannukah. Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish friends. In many, if not most, Jewish households, one is likely to see a menorah , an ornamental candle holder for eight spaces, over the course of about a week, eight days, one candle is lit. One candle lights the next until the whole sequence is illuminated. Where did the tradition get started ? Sadly, some stories have to be told with a history lesson. The Empire of Alexander the Great was the Rome of the East. When the great Conqueror died pre-maturely. his domain had been split among his generals. The territory that contained Judea went to one of those generals but then, there was a revolt that had overthrown the Hellenistic authority, Jerusalem was re-taken and what became known as the Second Temple. Ritual is very important in Temple liturgy, including consecration with certain oils. As it happened, there was not enough of the precious fluid, but, by economy of effort, or maybe a miracle, t