What is the name of the candle used to light the candles on the Minorah?

edmund80

Shamash. "Since these lights commemorate a holy miraculous event, they are not to be used for normal household needs. Obviously keeping this restriction was more of a challenge before the availability of electric light. Since not one of the eight chanukiyah lights may be used for the pedestrian task of lighting another candle, how do the Chanukah candles get lit? That's where the shamash comes in. It is lit to do the lighting work. To prevent onlookers from assuming the shamash is part of the chanukiyah candle count, the shamash is set apart from the others on the chanukiyah. It is placed either higher or lower than the rest." http://www.mazornet.com/holidays/Chanukah/menorah-shamash.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menorah_(Hanukkah) http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/menorah.html Dec 21 08, 4:54 PM