Configurable illumination device

A method for simulating lighting candles in a religious holiday ceremony, the method comprising:

• providing power to an illumination device associated with the religious holiday ceremony, the illumination device comprising at least one electric light source, a transceiver, a processor, and a memory;
• initiating communication between the illumination device and a remote device via the transceiver;
• accessing at least one specific calendar day and at least one specific time of day associated with the religious holiday ceremony from a network via the remote device;
• transmitting the at least one specific calendar day and the at least one specific time of day to the illumination device;
• storing the at least one specific calendar day and the at least one specific time of day in the memory of the illumination device;
• synchronizing a local clock associated with the illumination device with a real-time clock and present calendar day reference associated with the remote device;
• and
• activating the at least one electric light source on the at least one specific calendar day at the at least one specific time of day via the processor.

An electronic Hanukkah menorah comprising:

• a plurality of electric light sources;
• a local clock configured to maintain a real-time clock and present calendar day reference;
• a transceiver configured to communicatively interface with a remote device to obtain at least one of specific calendar dates and specific times associated with Hanukkah and the real-time clock and present calendar day reference from the remote device;
• a memory configured to store the specific calendar dates and the specific times associated with Hanukkah;
• and
• a processor configured to automatically activate and automatically deactivate the electric light sources on each of the specific calendar dates at each of the specific times associated with Hanukkah based on the real-time clock and the present calendar day reference.