You place the candles in from right to left, but you light them starting with the left.

Basic rule

  • On each night, you add the new candle on the far right side of the menorah.
  • When lighting, you always light the newest candle first, so you start with the candle on the left-most side that is filled so far and then move to the right.

Step‑by‑step example

  • Night 1:
    • Put one candle in the far right holder.
* Light that right‑most candle.
  • Night 2:
    • Put the new candle to the left of last night’s candle (so now you have two, on the right and just left of it).
* Light the **left** candle first (the new one), then the right candle.
  • Night 8:
    • All eight spots are filled from right to left.
* You start lighting on the far left and move candle by candle toward the right.

Why it’s done this way

  • The candles are added from right to left to reflect Hebrew reading direction and to show the increasing miracle each night.
  • Lighting from left to right gives honor to the newest candle, which represents the current night’s mitzvah and is therefore lit first.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.