CHABAD.ORG To Make the Darkness Itself Shine By Rabbi Yitzi Hurwitz

The Talmud1 tells us, regarding the mitzvah of lighting Chanukah candles: "The House of Shammai says, 'On the first day you light eight, and from here and on continue to subtract [one light each day].' The House of Hillel says, 'On the first day you light one, and from here and on continue to add [one light each day].' The House of Shammai reasons that the Chanukah lights are like the bulls of the holiday [of Sukkot—on the first day of Sukkot, 13 bulls were offered; on the second, 12 etc.). The House of Hillel's holds that, on the contrary, we go up in holiness and not down."