A New Spin on Hanukkah Blessings from OurJewishCommunity.org

[OurJewishCommunity]

Woops - we messed up with the math. It's not 9 factorial! It's 9+8+7 etc. Aah, missed that day of rabbinical school!

[friedie1jeff]

What you want is the sum of an algebraic series plus 8 (for the shammus 8 times).

Your algebraic series is 1 + 2 + 3..........+8.

The sum of a series = n(a + n)/2

where n = the last number in the series a = the first number in the series

Therefore, the real solution is: n(a + n)/2 + 8 = 8(1 + 8)/2 + 8 = 44

[erra404]

I know there are 44, but I have the custom of lighting a menorah on shabbat that uses larger candles and any night that I have a latke party at my house. I also offer my normal sized menorahs for guests to light if they want, so that throws off the numbers a bit.

[brodyjamie]

i really like that you put out there that historical evidace our knowings dident happy and really like the idea of saying your own words that is belived...thank you for that lovely insite