Hanukkah famously has eight nights of celebration. The Hanukkah menorah, however, has nine candles: eight regular candles and a ninth that is always offset. It is called the shamash or shamos, which loosely translates to meaning “servant” or “janitor.”
The shamos is the candle that lights all the others: it is the only candle whose fire can be used, not just watched. As we wrap up our series on the Zen of Python, I see how namespaces provide a similar service.
