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[Times photo: Patty Yablonski]
| Clockwise from top: Hand-dipped candles fill a Hanukkah menorah designed by Richard Morin and Claude Choiniere. Glass menorah, $98. Shapiro Studio & Gallery, St. Petersburg. Set of 44 candles, $7.99. Bed Bath & Beyond.
Asian Spice Floaters scented candles, set of three, $10. Pier 1 Imports.
Mini apple candles, set of nine, prices vary from $10 to $20 at gift, specialty and department stores. Kapula candles made in South Africa, set of two. $4.99. T.J. Maxx.
Potpourri Designs pine cone candles, set of six. $9.95. Kirkland's. |
By MARY JANE PARK
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 21, 2000
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Hanukkah's bright lights
Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, will be celebrated with dinners, carnivals, gift sales and the lighting of menorahs. The eight-day holiday, which begins tonight at sundown, recalls when Jewish soldiers recaptured the Holy Temple and lit a flame that burned for eight days with one day's supply of oil. |
Today marks the winter solstice, the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere, the start of winter. Many cultures, religious and pagan, observe candlelit ceremonies.
Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, begins at sundown today, when the faithful light the first candles in their menorahs. Each subsequent night, another light is added until the eighth night, when all are lit, using the highest candle, the shamash.
On Monday, Christians will celebrate Christmas, commemorating the birth of Jesus. Candles symbolize Christ as a light in the world.
Kwanzaa, an African-American observance that began in 1966, starts Tuesday. The lighting of a Kinara reflects Kwanzaa's seven founding principles: Unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.
Candlelight brings a gentle glow into the darkness, a warmth to the spirit.
-- MARY JANE PARK, Times staff writer
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