Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, has for centuries outshined the darkness of bigotry.
“Hanukkah is even more important this year because this holiday brings light and hope into the world at a time when it’s really needed,” said Melanie Avner of the Mizel Museum, a Jewish cultural center in Denver.
That Hanukkah light originates from menorahs, which come in all sizes and shapes and are made of a variety of materials and range in tone from somber to silly.
This year, Hanukkah begins the evening of Dec. 12.
The original instructions for creating a menorah were detailed in the Book of Exodus: “Make a lampstand of pure gold. … Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it.”
“The tradition of the menorah is about 3,000 years old,” said Rabbi Eliot Baskin, who serves as the Denver Jewish Community Chaplain for Jewish Family Service. “It’s a symbol of universal enlightenment, wisdom and God’s eternal presence.”
“The temple menorah was a seven-branched candelabra made of pure gold for the portable sanctuary used by Moses in the wilderness, and later, in temple in Jerusalem,” he said. “There were no candles, but they used fresh olive oil of the purest quality to burn. The temple menorah has been recognized since ancient times and is used on the coat of arms of modern state of Israel.”
David Shneer, a professor of Jewish history at the University of Colorado Boulder, also emphasized the menorah as a powerful and ubiquitous symbol. “One sees the image of the menorah in Temple architecture throughout time and place, which is what makes it one of the key unifying symbols of Judaism — even more so than the Star of David,” he said via email.
The Hanukkah menorah, known as a chanukiah, differs in that the candelabra holds eight candles or oil lamps plus one known as the shamash, or servant, with which other lights are kindled. Kosher households use chanukiot with all eight candles on one level, arranged in a straight line with the shamash on a different level.
Hanukkah is a Hebrew word that means “dedication,” Baskin said. This refers to the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem following the Maccabean revolution. The Macabees overthrew their Syrian-Greek oppressors, who attempted to outlaw Judaism. The Hanukkah miracle holds that when the Jews rededicated the temple and relit the temple menorah, they had oil enough only for one day. But the oil supply lasted eight days.
According to Shneer, after the rededication of the temple, coins were minted with the menorah on them as a sign of a return to Jewish sovereignty. “The menorah has a very important symbolic and real meaning in Jews’ lives from the ancient period,” Shneer said.
The candelabra itself has taken many forms over the centuries. “Menorahs were frequently objects of high value and great artistic craftsmanship following the rule that Jews should adorn the commandments,” Shneer said.
The Mizel Museum houses a collection of a dozen menorahs, both antique and contemporary. A cast-silver chanukiah based on a 16th-century Renaissance model features angels, mermaids, cornucopias and cartouches. A crown tops a 19th-century silver chanukiah from Poland, and a brass version from Morocco shows Moorish design influence. A bench-style chanukiah was inspired by a medieval French design, and another shows a high priest lighting candles and bears the Hebrew inscription (translated into English), “Kindle the candles in your courtyards of holiness and rededicate the eight days of Chanukah.”
“Menorah designs tend to reflect the cultures in which Jews live, so a synagogue in 2nd-century Alexandria would have had a menorah that looked like its cultural surroundings. In Germany, there were ornate pewter menorahs,” Shneer said.
But by the 20th century, Shneer said, menorahs “reflected the mass-consumer cultures in which Jews live. Hence, the wide variety of them from high design to Disney-inspired.”
Like many Jewish families, the Baskins have a collection of menorahs. They’ve collected about two dozen chanukiot ranging from a moose whose antlers hold the candles to a VW bus with a candelabra on top and one representing the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
“We have one my wife made out of clay, one shaped like a duck,” Baskin said. “We have one from the year when Hanukkah fell on Thanksgiving, and it’s called a ‘men-urkey,’ with turkey wings. It’s a hoot.”
Avner’s family displays multiple menorahs during Hanukkah.
“At my house, we often have six or seven chanukiahs by our front window,” Avner said. “The idea is to bring the light to the world and let the light be seen. And when all the candles are lit — especially when you have multiple menorahs — it is stunning.”
