(The Conversation) — The Hanukkah story centers on rekindling the eternal light in the Temple, a symbol of God’s presence. Similarly, the Ner Tamid above the ark in synagogues is never ...

Those traditions rely heavily upon the synagogue. Though architecturally diverse, every temple includes an eternal light, an ark of the covenant, and very often a seven-branched candelabra known as a ...

I have a special affinity for the ner tamid (eternal light) suspended above the aron kodesh (holy ark) in synagogues throughout the world. My ner tamid bond dates from 1979 and traces its roots to ...

This menorah is to be a ner tamid, an eternal light—it should never go out. And so it is, to this very day, that every synagogue includes one, reminding us of our past, reminding us of our destiny.

That is why in the Tabernacle, and later in the first Temple itself the eternal light was represented at one and the same time and in the same place.

This lamp, I learned from parents and teachers, was an eternal light – the literal meaning of the Hebrew term Ner Tamid. This meant it had to remain lit continuously. It could never go out.

The Hanukkah story centers on rekindling the eternal light in the Temple, a symbol of God’s presence. Similarly, the Ner Tamid above the ark in synagogues is never supposed to go out.

(THE CONVERSATION) My earliest religious memory is of our synagogue’s Ner Tamid: the decorative electric lamp that hangs in every sanctuary, above the ark holding the Torah scrolls. This lamp, I ...

My earliest religious memory is of our synagogue's Ner Tamid: the decorative electric lamp that hangs in every sanctuary, above the ark holding the ...