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Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah, but my family has already experienced our own holiday miracle.
Last night, my sons and I hunched over the dining room table, carefully soldering together the LED Menorah kit I had ordered. The plan was to present it to my dad on Monday.
We tested the circuit board, saw that all nine bulbs lit up beautifully (in four different modes: low steady, low flickering, high steady and high flickering) and slid it into the stand. To make it fit, my oldest son (the engineering school student) had to clip the leads a little neater than I (the English major) had done. But when we tested the assembled menorah again, lo, the second candle would no longer light.
After an hour of fruitlessly trying to un-solder the bulb to replace it, we gave up and decided to just show it to my dad (the electrical engineer). Perhaps we could pick up tools to fix it after our visit and somehow get it back to him in time for Hanukkah.
So we brought the tiny menorah by, turned it on to show him how it worked, and discussed various fixes that might work. Maybe it was the resistors? Had we bridged two points and caused a short circuit?
And then suddenly, my son wiggled something on the menorah, and the candle sprung to life.
Now, Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of the lamp that burned for eight days when it only had enough oil for one. The menorah my family used when I was growing up was made of brass and very simple. My kids and I light lovely hand-dipped candles which my husband picks up for us every year, set in a pretty blue ceramic menorah decorated with dancing dreidels. But when it comes to menorahs nowadays, anything goes.
In ancient times, a candle suddenly lighting would be considered a miracle. Today, it sparks a debate on whether we knocked a connection lose or changed the capacitance by the way we held the board.
But whether oil lamp or LED, it's still a miracle when the generations can get together and enjoy the (digital) flickering lights of the menorah together.
Happy Hanukkah!
