Hanukkah Menorahs in the Diaspora

Hanukkah Menorahs in the diversified Jewish Diaspora

BY URIEL HALBREICH, MD

The eight days of the feast of Hanukkah are celebrated by lighting the Hanukkiah (menorah) which is an eight-candle lamp with an additional “shamash” or server which is used to light the other candles. This is different from the seven candlesticks of the Mikdash that also inspired the state of Israel emblem.

In most Israeli and Jewish-American congregation institutes and homes, the Hanukkah lamp is shaped according to the Ashkenazi Eastern and Central European tradition (Picture 1) probably because Ashkenazi Jews were most significant in the establishment of these communities.

However, Jewish communities in the Middle-East and North Africa (MENA) shaped the Hanukkah lamps according to local traditions and cultures, mostly using olive oil and wicks candles, which were used and described in Biblical, Talmudic and medieval writings. An example of that style is the Hanukkiah from the old synagogue

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of Aleppo (Haleb in Arabic and Hebrew) in northern Syria (Picture 2). Aleppo was home to a centuries-old thriving Jewish community that was expelled shortly following the establishment of the independent State of Israel in 1948. Syrian Jews managed to bring some of their most significant possessions to Jerusalem, including the synagogue Menorah. That Hanukkiah expresses the yearning for Jerusalem-the Western Wall, as well as other typical engravings. Typically, it has separate but integrated candlesticks for Shabbat candles. Similar smaller-scale metal Hanukkah lamps were found in Morocco, Egypt and other MENA countries.

Some Jewish-Italian homes had their own cultural interpretation exemplified by the painted wooden Hanukkiah (picture 3) which is integrated with a handy box for prayer books and a frame depicting Moses and Aaron.

Culturally-sensitive creativity is demonstrated by the whimsical integration of Mediterranean shape with EasternEuropean-shtetel motives (Picture 4) created by an artist in Concord, Massachusetts.

In lighting our own personal Hanukkah lamps, may we celebrate independence, an optimistic point of view, and even againstall-odds triumph.

Dr. Uriel Halbreich is Director, Biobehavioral Research, and Professor of Psychiatry, SUNY-At Buffalo Medical School and Founding Chair, WPA Section on Interdisciplinary Collaboration. The hanukkiot pictured in this story are from his collection, purchased during global travel.

Torah & Tea at the JDC

A group of 50 Buffalo women enjoyed an inspiring morning of “Torah & Tea” in the

Sukkah. Hosted and led by Rivky Greenberg, they explored the juggling “game” of life, how “uptime” differs from “downtime” and how-to bring heaven down to earth even while doing the most mundane of tasks. Women were able to study, schmooze, sip tea and taste some delicious refreshments. They also had a chance to fulfill the special Mitzvah of shaking the Lulav and Etrog. “Torah & Tea” is a program of the

Jewish Discovery Center. For more information, contact Rivky at at TorahandTea@gmail.com.