Jack and Steph Celebrate Hanukkah in Eight-Bit Style with the Shift Register Menorah Pin Badge

Makers Jack and Steph, of Jack and Steph's Workshop, have come up with a tiny little circuit with which to celebrate Hanukkah in electronic style: an eight-bit shift-register menorah.

"While it's true that we don't do much worship here at Jack and Steph's Workshop, we do love celebrations," the pair write of the LED-adorned device. "This sparkly wearable pin is basically a single byte of menorah memory, designed to help you remember/teach the hanukkiah customs!"

The Hanukkah menorah, or hanukkiah, is the iconic nine-branched candle holder designed to celebrate the eight nights of Hanukkah: each of the eight candles is lit from a central shamash ("helper") candle, with one more lit each night of the holiday until every candle is burning. Jack and Steph's take on the concept, though, swaps naked flames for LEDs — and uses a shift register to control them.

"The first press of the button powers on the circuit and lights the shamash candle only," the pair explain. "Tradition states that you now say the blessings before lighting the next candles. The pin helpfully reminds you to say these blessings by introducing a delay of a few seconds between the lighting of the shamash and when the circuit permits the next candle to be lit.

"The next button press lights the candle for the first night, which is the leftmost candle. Each subsequent press lights another candle in the correct order from left to right. All the candles can be extinguished by pressing and holding the button for a few seconds."

Behind the nine LEDs is a shift register which is tied to the front-facing button: a click of the button pulls the clock line to ground, adding a high bit into the register to shift the number of candles which are lit one at a time — allowing for full control without involving a microcontroller.

The menorah is now available to order on the Jack and Steph's Workshop Tindie store for $15 as a soldering kit or $20 fully-assembled.