How many candles, including the shamash, are lit on the first night of Hanukkah? Two candles are lit.
One is the first Hanukkah light, representing the first night of the eight-day festival. The other is the shamash, or “attendant” candle. It is set apart from the holiday lights, often on a raised branch, and is used to kindle them.
The shamash is not counted as one of the eight principal Hanukkah lights. Thus, the total rises from two lights on night one to nine on night eight. Across the entire festival, 36 principal lights are kindled, plus the shamash each night, for 44 lightings in all.
A common mix-up is confusing the Hanukkah menorah with the seven-branched Temple menorah. A Hanukkah menorah, properly called a hanukkiah, has eight places for the nightly lights and a separate place for the shamash. Customs vary on whether the shamash is lit first or last, but it is included in the nightly total.