Hanukkah, which means "dedication" and is also referred to as "The Festival of Lights", is a Jewish festival which begins on the Hebrew date of the 25th of Kislev and lasts eight days, through the 2nd of Tevet.

The most important Hanukkah ritual is the candle lighting. Jews light candles in a special candleholder called a "menorah" or a "hanukkiah". Each night, one more candle is added. The middle candle, called the "shamash", is used to light each of the other candles and it is lit every night. Therefore, on the first night of Hanukkah, two candles are lit (the shamash and the candle for the first night) and on the last night, there are nine lit candles.

Various menorot used for Hanukkah (Hanukiot). Taken from the 1901-1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, now in the public domain.

The locations of the hanukiot given below reflect their locations as of the publication of the Jewish Encyclopedia and not their present locations.

• 1. Bronze, French, attributed to 12th cent. (in the Musée de Cluny, Paris).
• 2. Yellow copper, modern (in the synagogue at Pogrebishche, Russia).
• 3. Silver (?), medieval (in the possession of Dr. Albert Figdor, Vienna).
• 5. Silver and bronze, 17th cent. (in the possession of Jacob H. Schiff. New York).
• 6. Silver, late 19th century (from the collection of the late Rabbi Benjamin Szold, Baltimore).
• 7. Bronze, Italian, 15th cent. (in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London).
• 8. Silver, English (?), 16th cent. (in the possession of E. A. Franklin, London).
• 9. Silver, Nuremberg, 17th cent. (in the possession of N. S. Joseph, London).
• 10. Silver, modern (in the possession of Maurice Herrmann, New York).