Chanukah
Last night began the holiday of Chanukah in commemoration of victory from the Greeks 2400 years ago in Jerusalem.

The reason why this celebration is remembered by the lighting of eight candles is because as the Greeks retreated they defiled the oil of the Temple requiring eight days to produced new oil; miraculously one cruse of oil was found that, though enough for only one day, remained lit for eight days–the miracle of Chanukah.

The reason why the day begins at night is learned from the beginning of the Torah during the Six Days of Creation each ending with the verse it was night and it was day. The Talmud-Book of Law begins with an extensive treatise on the nature of darkness and how we must deal with the darkness before we can come into the light.

Chanukah represents how the darkest time of the year is represented by a tiny flame growing over eight days; the Cabala explains eight as being a number of infinity and how the seven stemmed golden candelabra used in the Temple produced an inner light radiating through windows designed to magnify the light into the world.

Four hundred years later when the Temple was destroyed by Rome the world fell into the Dark Ages which will end when the Third Temple descends from the heavens.