icular light up eight candles on the first day,
seven on the second, decreasing the number by one each day. This is
according to the school of Shammai; but the school of Hillel say that he
should light up one on the first day, two on the second, increasing the
number by one each of the eight days of the fast.... What is the origin
of the feast of Dedication? On the twenty-fifth day of Kislev (about
December), the eight days of the Dedication commence, during which term
no funeral oration is to be made, nor public fast to be decreed. When
the Gentiles (Greeks) entered the second Temple, it was thought they had
defiled all the holy oil they found in it; but when the Hasmoneans
prevailed and conquered them, they sought and found still one jar of oil
stamped with the seal of the High Priest, and therefore undefiled.
Though the oil it contained would only have sufficed for one day, a
miracle was performed, so that the oil lasted to the end of the week
(during which time more oil was provided and consecrated for the future
service of the Temple). On the anniversary of this occasion the Feast of
Dedication was instituted.

_Shabbath_, fol. 21, col. 2.

The Feast of Dedication is annually celebrated by all Jews
everywhere, to commemorate the purifying of the Temple and the
restoration of its worship after its desecration by Antiochus
Epiphanes, of which an account may be found in 1 Maccabees iv.
52-59. It is very probable that some of our Christmas
festivities are only adaptations of the observances of this
Jewish feast in symbolism of Christian ideas. During the eight
days of the festival they light up wax candles or oil lamps,
according to the rubric of the school of Hillel. Previous to the
lighting, the following benedictions are pronounced:--

"Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our God! King of the universe, who
hath sanctified us with Thy commandment, and commanded us to
light the light of Dedication."

"Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our God! King of the universe, who
wrought miracles for our fathers in those days and in this
season."

"Blessed art Thou, O Lord, Our God! King of the universe, who
hath preserved us alive, sustained us, and brought us to enjoy
this season."

After the lighting, the following form is repeated:--"These
lights we light to praise Thee for the miracles, wonders,
salvation, and victories which Thou didst perform fo