Every year, in the dark weeks of winter, Jewish homes kindle flames for eight nights — the Chag HaChanukah, the Feast of Dedication. The festival commemorates the purifying of the Temple and the restoration of its worship after the desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes, recorded in 1 Maccabees 4:52-59.
The rabbis instituted the ritual, and the schools of Hillel and Shammai argued, as they often did, about the right way to perform it. Shammai said to begin with eight lights and diminish one each night, matching the dwindling oil of the Temple. Hillel said to begin with one and add a light each night, because in matters of sanctity we ascend, we do not descend. The halacha follows Hillel. Light grows.
Before kindling, a Jew pronounces three blessings on the first night — lehadlik ner shel Chanukah, she-asah nissim la-avoteinu, and shehecheyanu. On the following nights, only the first two. Each flame is a witness to a miracle that outlasted an empire.
The takeaway is Hillel’s: when you are rebuilding something sacred, start small and add.