The Miracle of Chanukah

Long story short, after successfully driving the Syrians out of The Temple in Jerusalem, the Macabees wanted to clean it up for their own use. As a tribute to their victory they wanted to light the candelabra. They were only able to find a tiny a drop of oil. But, miraculously, that oil lasted for 8 nights and thus we have Chanukah. I’ve always felt that Chanukah lent itself to some mathematical miracle of its own. For example, in Jewish day schools instead of the “a bus leaves Chicago going 75mph and a bus leaves New York going 85 mph….” question do they ask “you have an 8 candle menorah and every night you light a candle for the night plus a leader candle……” Having celebrated Chanukah for 30 something years now I know that in order to fulfill the celebration you need 44 candles. Every year, I rummage through my cabinets, closets and storage bins to find juts enough candles. Sometimes they all match, other times I have some beeswax, some smooth. Always different colors. But, alas, I always find 44. And, so the miracle of Chanukah, continues.