The Order of Lighting:

The blessings over the lighting:

Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to kindle the Chanukah light: Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who performed miracles for our fathers in those days, at this time:

These lights we kindle for the miracles, for the wonders, for the salvations, and for the wars that You performed for our fathers in those days, at this time—through Your holy Kohanim—and for all the mitzvah of the eight days of Chanukah. These lights are holy, and we have no permission to make use of them, only to look at them, in order to thank and praise Your great Name for Your miracles, for Your wonders, and for Your salvation.

Maoz Tzur—Rock of my salvation, to You it is fitting to give praise. Establish the House of my prayer, and there we will offer a thanksgiving sacrifice. When You prepare the slaughter for the barking oppressor, then I will complete, with song and psalm, the dedication of the altar: My soul was sated with troubles; my strength was consumed with grief. My life was embittered with hardship under the bondage of the calf-kingdom. Yet with His great Hand He brought out His treasured nation; Pharaoh’s army and all his seed went down like a stone into the depths. He brought me into His holy Sanctuary, yet even there I found no rest; an oppressor came and exiled me, for I served strangers and poured a wine of poison—until I nearly perished. The end of Babylon—Zerubbabel—at the end of seventy years I was saved. The Agagite, son of Hammedata, sought to cut down the lofty cypress; but it became for him a trap and a snare, and his pride was shattered. You raised the head of my right hand, and You erased the name of the enemy; his many sons and possessions You hung upon the tree. Greeks gathered against me then, in the days of the Chashmona’im. They breached the walls of my towers and defiled all the oils. But from the remaining jars a miracle was made for the lilies; men of understanding established eight days of song and joyous praise. Reveal Your holy Arm and bring near the end of salvation. Avenge the blood of Your servants from the wicked nation, for the hour has grown long for us and there is no end to the days of evil. Push away the “Red One” in the shadow of deep darkness; raise up for us a shepherd of seven.

A Psalm, a Song for the Dedication of the House, by David: I will exalt You, Hashem, for You have lifted me up and did not let my enemies rejoice over me. Hashem my G-d, I cried out to You and You healed me. Hashem, You brought my soul up from Sheol; You kept me alive from descending into the pit. Sing to Hashem, His devoted ones, and give thanks to the remembrance of His holiness. For His anger is but for a moment; life is in His favor. In the evening, weeping may lodge, but in the morning there is song. As for me, I said in my tranquility, “I will never falter.” Hashem, by Your favor You established strength for my mountain; You hid Your Face—I was terrified. To You, Hashem, I call, and to my Master I plead: What profit is there in my blood, in my going down to the grave? Will dust thank You? Will it declare Your truth? Hear, Hashem, and be gracious to me; Hashem, be my Helper. You turned my mourning into dancing for me; You opened my sackcloth and girded me with joy—so that my glory may sing to You and not be silent. Hashem my G-d, forever I will thank You.

For the conductor, with melodies—a psalm, a song: May G-d be gracious to us and bless us; may He shine His Face with us, Selah. So that Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations. Let peoples thank You, O G-d; let all peoples thank You. Nations will rejoice and sing, for You will judge peoples with fairness and guide nations on earth, Selah. Let peoples thank You, O G-d; let all peoples thank You. The earth has yielded its produce; G-d, our G-d, will bless us. G-d will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear Him.

Ana B’Koach—Please, with the power of the greatness of Your right hand, release the bound. אב"ג ית"ץ: Accept the song of Your people; strengthen us, purify us, Awesome One. קר"ע שט"ן: Please, Mighty One—those who seek Your Oneness—guard them like the apple of the eye. נג"ד יכ"ש: Bless them, purify them; with the compassion of Your righteousness, always bestow upon them. בט"ר צת"ג: Powerful, Holy One—through Your abundant goodness, lead Your congregation. חק"ב טנ"ע: Unique and Exalted One—turn to Your people, to those who remember Your holiness. יג"ל פז"ק: Accept our plea and hear our cry, Knower of hidden things. שק"ו צי"ת: In a whisper: Blessed is the Name of the glory of His kingship forever and ever.

Rejoice in Hashem, you righteous; praise is fitting for the upright. Give thanks to Hashem with a harp; with a ten-stringed lyre sing to Him. Sing to Him a new song; play well with a joyous blast. For the word of Hashem is upright, and all His work is with Emunah. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is filled with the kindness of Hashem. By the word of Hashem the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their hosts. He gathers the waters of the sea like a heap; He places the depths in storehouses. Let all the earth fear Hashem; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke and it came to be; He commanded and it stood. Hashem nullifies the counsel of nations; He frustrates the plans of peoples. The counsel of Hashem stands forever, the thoughts of His heart from generation to generation. Fortunate is the nation for whom Hashem is its G-d, the people He chose as His inheritance. From heaven Hashem looked down; He saw all the children of man. From the place of His dwelling He watches over all the inhabitants of the earth—He Who forms their hearts together, Who understands all their deeds. A king is not saved by a great army; a mighty man is not rescued by great strength. The horse is a false hope for salvation, and with all its power it will not deliver. Behold, the eye of Hashem is upon those who fear Him, upon those who hope for His kindness—to save their soul from death and to sustain them in famine. Our soul waits for Hashem; He is our help and our shield. For in Him our heart will rejoice, for in His holy Name we trusted. May Your kindness, Hashem, be upon us, as we hoped for You.

To merit, through the merit of the third candle, to restore the 370 lights that were taken from Chavah through the lighting of the Chanukah candles; to guard the eyes; to be included within the soul of Shimshon; and to completely rectify the spark found in Esav

Master of the world, Almighty—nothing is beyond You, and no plan is withheld from You—grant me, through lighting the third candle, to draw down the 370 lights. This is the intention one should have when saying, “Who performed miracles for our fathers,” because when we say “Who performed miracles for our fathers,” we draw down the 370 lights that were taken from Chavah through the sin of the Tree of Knowledge. For by drawing down these 370 lights that were taken from Chavah at the time of the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, we rectify the world of Tohu (the unrectified realm), because these 370 lights are drawn from the “Face” of Atika Kadisha (the most ancient, supernal level of Divine will), in the secret of 370. For the “length of the nose” of Atika Kadisha—that is, the extension of Divine patience and mercy—is the 370 lights, in the secret of “Who performed miracles for our fathers.” And by drawing down the 370 lights that were taken from Chavah, and restoring them through lighting the Chanukah candles—because through lighting the Chanukah light we rectify the “nose” of Atika Kadisha, in the secret of the 370 lights of the “nose” of Atika Kadisha—these lights are drawn from the whiteness of the “skull,” from the supernal Chesed. This is the Chesed that has the power to sweeten everything. This is hinted in the verse, “And Hashem turned to Hevel and to his offering,” because Hevel brought his offering from the eight “whitenesses” of the hairs of Atika—about which it is said, “and the hair of His head was like clean wool.” This is the secret of Amram, whose soul-root was from the eight whitenesses of the hairs of Atika. But “to Kayin and to his offering He did not turn,” because Kayin did not succeed in drawing down the 370 lights that come from the Gevuros of Atika, and he did not include them within the Chasadim of Atika. Because of this, he did not rectify the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, which was a mixture of Chasadim with Gevuros without proper rectification—and Kayin did not repair this. For instead of bringing only flax—which is the secret of Gevuros—he also needed to bring a lamb or a goat, which is the secret of the Chasadim of Atika, the secret of “the firstborn of his flock.” Then he would have sweetened the Gevuros of Atika—the secret of flax—by including them within the Chasadim of Atika, the secret of the lamb {Beit Olamim, p. 42, the secret of sha’atnez}. For Hevel is an acronym for “In the firmament of the heavens, to give light,” because Hevel succeeded in drawing down the 370 lights that are drawn from the “nose” of Atika Kadisha, which is called “heavens.” For Hevel is the secret of Shalom, and Esav has the gematria of Shalom. Therefore, with the third candle we rectify the soul of Esav—who was third after Avraham and Yitzchak—and he was “a thousand mouths” compared to Yaakov {Heichal HaBerachah, Toldos}. For Esav = 370 + 1. Now we rectify Esav completely. For after Shimshon received a spark from Esav—which caused him to stumble and to sin—he did not merit to rectify the soul of Esav, and the building fell upon him. Now we have Chanukah, through which to draw down the 370 lights, and through this we rectify even the soul of Esav, whose head is in the Cave of Machpelah. For each and every person comes into the world to rectify some spark of Esav, which is drawn from holy Gevuros {Galei Razaya}. And Shimshon, instead of overcoming and rectifying the spark of Esav, allowed it to cause him to stumble. Because of this they gouged out his eyes, and the building fell upon him, and he did not succeed in completing his rectification. Therefore he said, “Let me take vengeance for one of my eyes”—and the rectification and merit of the second eye is preserved for every Jewish man and woman, for all generations. All of this is rectified with the third Chanukah candle: the spark of Esav that exists within each and every person. May it be Your will that we rectify this in complete perfection—after which there is no further perfection beyond it.