Menorah

The lamp lit each night of Hanukkah, called a hanukkiah. Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah) is an eight-day Jewish festival that begins on the 25th of the Hebrew month of Kislev, which falls between late November and late December. It remembers the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the second century BCE, after Jewish fighters known as the Maccabees retook it. According to tradition, a single day's supply of pure oil for the Temple lamp burned for eight days, which is why the festival lasts eight nights and is celebrated with light.

Each evening after dark, families light the lamp at home, often in a window so passers-by can see it, and say blessings over it. One flame is added each night until all eight burn on the last night. The season also brings food fried in oil, such as potato pancakes (latkes) and jelly doughnuts (sufganiyot), the spinning-top game dreidel, and small gifts or chocolate coins for children. Many cities hold public lightings of giant lamps.

Religiously Hanukkah is a minor festival next to Passover or Yom Kippur, but because it falls near Christmas it has become one of the most visible Jewish holidays, especially in North America, and the lamp is its emblem.

What does it mean when someone sends you 🕎?

Almost always a Hanukkah greeting or a share of the celebration. During the festival, “Happy Hanukkah 🕎” or “Chag sameach 🕎” (Hebrew for “happy holiday”) is the standard message between friends and relatives, and the emoji sits beside photos of the family lamp, the kids with a dreidel or a plate of doughnuts. A greeting in return, or 🕎 with a heart, is all that is needed. You do not have to be Jewish to send it; non-Jewish friends, schools and companies send it as a courtesy, the way they send 🎄.

Outside the festival dates, 🕎 in a name or bio usually marks the person as Jewish or proud of Jewish heritage, much like ✡️. It can also appear in posts expressing support for Jewish people. It does not tell you how religious the sender is: many people who light a Hanukkah lamp are not otherwise observant.

The misreading worth avoiding is treating Hanukkah as “Jewish Christmas”. It is a separate holiday with its own story and dates, and not the most important one in the Jewish year, so a message that bundles 🕎 into Christmas wishes can land oddly. A plain “Happy Hanukkah 🕎” on the right dates is always welcome.

Why nine lights, and is it the Temple menorah?

Eight for the nights plus a helper; the Temple lamp had seven. In Hebrew, menorah simply means lamp, and the famous one is the seven-branched gold menorah that stood in the Temple in Jerusalem. It is carved on the Arch of Titus in Rome, which shows Roman soldiers carrying it away, and today it is the emblem of the State of Israel. The Hanukkah lamp is a different object with nine holders: eight for the eight nights and one, the shamash (“attendant”), set higher or apart. The shamash lights the others, because the festival flames themselves are only to be looked at, not used for work or reading.

In English the Hanukkah lamp is also loosely called a menorah, which is why the emoji's official name is Menorah while its shortcode spells out nine branches. 🕎 is specifically the nine-light Hanukkah version; there is no emoji for the seven-branched one.