Hanukkah is one of the important festivals celebrated in the Jewish religion, the eight days that are taken to mark this ancient holiday are used to celebrate a great victory by a group of Jews called the Maccabees against Antiochus the ruler of Israel at the time of the uprising. Antiochus had banned the Jewish people from actively participating in their faith and tried to force them to convert to a Hellenic lifestyle. Although the Maccabees were greatly outnumbered, they regained their Holy Temple and even though it had been ransacked they were able to light a lantern and read the Torah. There was only enough oil in the lantern to last for one day but miraculously it continued to burn for a full eight days!
The celebration of Hanukkah now incorporates a Menorah which is a special candelabra that actually holds nine candles. There are nine candles in the Menorah to represent the eight days that the original lantern burned and the Shamash, a special extra one used to light the others.
Apart from this important symbol to mark the festival of Hanukkah there are other just as important symbolic artefacts to mark other Jewish Festivals, such as Seder Plates supplied by specialist, professional companies such as cazenovejudaica.com/uk/seder-plate. These traditional plates are used during the festival of Passover and usually hold six or seven specific items of food representing sacrifice, the spring, the circle of life, and the bitterness of slavery.
