国家灯台于12 月 20 日点亮。从1979 年开始，它竖立在白宫附近占地21公顷的椭圆形草坪上，就在国家圣诞树近旁。

国家灯台(The National Menorah)于12 月 20 日光明节（Hanukkah）的第一个夜晚点亮。它竖立在白宫附近占地21公顷的椭圆形草坪(the Ellipse)上，就在国家圣诞树（National Christmas Tree）近旁。

光明节——又称灯节——每年11 月或 12 月开始，依犹太历而定。从1979 年开始，点亮国家灯台已成为一年一度的传统。

另有一个较小的灯台在白宫一年一度的光明节仪式上点亮。近两年来，白宫使用的是一个由新奥尔良市以色列贝丝修会（Congregation Beth Israel）捐赠的灯台——这是该修会在2005 年卡特里娜飓风过后幸存的极少数物件之一。

历时八天的光明节纪念两千多年前收复与重建耶路撒冷圣殿（Holy Temple of Jerusalem）的历史。一小队马加比族犹太人重新夺回并净化了圣殿，他们通过点亮永明灯举行献殿仪式。虽然他们用于祭祀的圣油仅够一天使用，但永明灯奇迹般地持续点燃了八天。今天，犹太人点亮灯台来纪念这段历史。

The National Menorah was lit on December 20. Since 1979 it has joined the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, the 21-hectare park near the White House.

The National Menorah was lit for the first night of Hanukkah, December 20, joining the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, the 21-hectare park near the White House.

Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, begins on different days in November or December each year depending on where it falls on the Hebrew calendar. The lighting of the National Menorah became an annual tradition starting in 1979.

Another, smaller menorah is lit during an annual White House Hanukkah ceremony. For the past two years, the White House has used a menorah donated by Congregation Beth Israel in New Orleans — one of the very few items from the congregation that survived Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The eight-day Hanukkah celebration commemorates the recapture and rededication of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem more than 2,000 years ago. After a small band of Jews, the Maccabees, retook the temple and purified it, they rededicated it by lighting the eternal lamp. Although they had enough consecrated oil for only one day, it miraculously lasted eight days. Today, Jews light the menorah to symbolize this event.