The great rabbis Hillel and Shammai didn’t agree on much, and Chanukah is no exception.

 

Shammai believed we should light our chanukah menorah with eight candles on the first night and diminish by one every night. His reasoning was that the Jews had the most oil on the first night and slowly diminished for the rest of the eight days. Furthermore, the descending number matches the style of the sacrificial offering of the recent holiday of Succot.

 

Hillel, on the other hand, believed that even though Shammai’s method made practical sense, it was not in the spirit of the holiday. The light, he said, represents holiness. And in matters of holiness, we should always increase. As we light or candles according to Hillel, let us hope that holiness increases in our world.