The Hanukkah Machines

How about this Hanukkah greeting from the fabled Technion in Israel? Hanukkah 101 - Rube Goldberg Machine - Technion Israel is based on the convoluted inventions that sprang from the imagination of Jewish cartoonist Rube Goldberg, and took form in his syndicated newspaper comic strip.  His name became synonymous with the kinds of machines that are depicted here, in this year's Hanukkah video from Israel's Institute of Technology:

And here's what they have to say about the video:

Technion students Eyal Cohen and Tomer Wassermann from the Mechanical Engineering faculty and Matan Orian and Dvir Dukhan of Industrial Engineering and Management take on the challenge to build a Rube Goldberg machine that lights the Chanukah menorah. Hanukkah is the holiday of miracles and here is another one. 

Eyal Cohen and Matan Orian are winners of the annual Technion Dr. Bob's TechnoBrain competition, supported by Dr. Robert Shillman in memory of Technion student Neev-Ya Durban. 

The film was made in the Computer Integrated Manufacturing and Robotics Laboratory in the William Davidson Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management

Now, maybe you're saying, how in the world did they do that?  Well, you're in luck, because they also have provided us with a "making of" video, Hanukkah 101 - Behind the Scenes - Rube Goldberg Machine - Technion:





Whatever you may think of their efforts, they're certainly a bit more advanced than this American "Auto Menorah":





Well, fortunately, there's no need to reinvent the wheel, or the menorah, so keep on lighting those lights as we continue to celebrate the eight nights of Hanukkah, and look forward to kindling the Shabbat lights tonight as well!