When driving around town, my family and I sometimes see houses that have single candles burning in each window, and no other form of decoration. My mother insists that it’s a sign that a Jewish family lives there, a sort of Hanukkah decoration, but I don’t think that’s neccesarily so. To the best of my knowledge, Hanukkah is celebrated with a menorah, not a single candle in each window.
So is Mom right?
Apologies for any misspellings
Raised in a Gentile home here…we used to do this, but simply because my stepmother liked it because of its presumed aesthetic value. So anecdotally, at least, candles in the window is not necessarily a Jewish thing. But whether it’s a Jewish custom at all, I could not tell you.
If it happened to be December 1st that you saw this, it may have been for World AIDS Day. One of the observances to mark the day is a candle in the window.
Oh, and I should add that we actually had electric candles, not proper candles. Fire hazards and all that jazz.
It was today, so maybe it was left there for the remainder of the season? :shrug:
I did not know that about World Aids Day. Thanks for the info, Otto.
Drat, I meant electric candles, but I didn’t know the proper term for what electric candles do. Shine? Glow?
Unfortunately, no, your mom is mistaken.
It may be that some homes that have the single candle may indeed belong to Jewish families, but it has nothing to do with Chanukah. In fact, several homes in my neighborhood, of decidely non-jewish familes (icons on the front lawn and such), have the single candle in the window thing going on
In the 80’s, it was for the troops in Desert Storm. It means different things at different times. As for currently, the World AIDS Day is the most likely explanation.
It’s very common in my parents’ neighborhood, which is overwhelmingly not-Jewish. My parents do it too. It’s just a “classy” Christmas decoration for people who think outdoor lighting is tacky.
It’s decorative, not religious. The candle-in-each-window Christmas lights can look very good, especially in a house with a lot of windows. Subtle and classy.
Some of the old Victorians in the town where I used to live used to have the single candle in each window - with the number of windows those houses usually had, the effect was often breathtakingly beautiful. Although the “one candle” theme is often an activist one, I never got the impression that it was anything more than a way of decorating in an elegant, subtle way (as compared to stringing up icicle lights and blinking Santas on the lawn).
When I was a kid in Indiana in the 60’s a few families in the neighborhood did this to decorate for Christmas in an understated way. Kind of a fad.
My parents, who are Roman Catholic, have done this for years at Christmastime. There’s no religious significance, they just like the look - it’s rather understated, particularly when compared to the inflatables, multi-colored blinking strands, and allegedly humorous Santa-in-trouble displays that seem to be popular in their neighborhood these days.
Here in Norge, an electric candelabra (usually with seven candles) and/or a lit star in the window are quite standard decorations during the month of December.
Since Hanukkah doesn’t start until December 25th this year, it would be distinctly weird to be decorating for it already…
In my 38 years of being a Jew I have NEVER seen this associated with Jews. It’s always been a Christmas thing.
Here are two other uses of a single candle in a window that I know of.
My neighbors down the block have a candle lit in the window of their daughter’s bedroom. She worked in the World Trade Center, and was killed on 9/11. That one little light sends a very powerful message.
When Mary Robinson was President of Ireland, she had a single candle lit in the kitchen window of the President’s Residence in Dublin, to light the way home for all the Irish who had left their homeland over the years. It was meant to serve as a beacon for them to find their way back home. I saw it, it was a very moving sight, and I’m not even Irish.
My best friend’s mom did this for Christmas every year. The front house windows got a candle, the door got a lighted wreath. The kids and dad put up brightly colored blinking lights on every other surface.
In the historic town center of Amherst NH, a single candle in each window is the only external decoration allowed by compact. I have a hard time believing that’s due to all the Jews who settled there in the 1800’s. 
I was wondering if it might be advent candles… but that would only be a single candle during the first week of advent, which ended on Saturday. (Advent started quite early this year, apparently, because christmas will fall on a sunday.) Should be two candles now, unless people have forgotten.
Just had to share that for no particular reason.
A few houses around here have done that year after year. They are pretty much old victorian style houses. One very nice one stands on a hill along the intersate. They do the candle in the window and evergreen garland. It looks like one of the Curier & Ives victorian chrtistmas senes.
My mom is Christian, and used to do this. She just likes the look.
I can’t think of any reason why a Jewish family couldn’t have this as part of their Hanukkah decorations, though.
Not necessarily. I put up our electric menorahs yesterday, and Mr. Neville’s aunt (who goes all out decorating for Hanukkah) does it the day after Thanksgiving, no matter when Hanukkah is. People start decorating for Christmas early, so why not?
Hooray! I was right! What do I win? 
Thanks for the information, all. I got my question answered and more.