Day One of Hanukkah was yesterday and a small amount of potato pancakes were consumed by us. We will do the big batch this Sunday, but for now, our latke craving has been appeased. :-)
My house is still a mess, with boxes of decorations, lights, trains, etc all over the living room, but I got the dining room set for Hanukkah and it looks lovely, as usual. Being we live in a 2 religion house, I have traditionally done up the dining room table with a Hanukkah table cloth, decorations, place settings, etc and the main living room has the tree, stockings and trains. It works for us. The trip to Las Vegas combined with the Holiday being so early, has definitely put a crimp in my having the house looking nice for the Hanukkah season. I am sure I will get it together by Sunday, though.
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Photo Credit:
Photo was taken in 2005 at
the Reagan Presidential
Library. These menorahs,
were gifts to Ronald Reagan.
And Happy Chanukah to you and yours. The holiday season can indeed be a crunch. Remember that it's for you - not you for it.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the photo credit. Those are indeed Chanukah Menoras. What else could they be? The Menorah in the Temple (back in Temple times) was a seven branched candelabra. This can be seen in the Emblem of the State of Israel on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel, The nine branched candelabra is specific to Chanukah. In fact, the specific name for what we call a Chanukah menorah is a "Chanukiah". A close examination of the photo that you uploaded will show that these are Chanukiot presented by the representatives of the Chabad Lubavich.
As you are in a two-religion household, I don't want to forget to also wish you and yours a Merry Christmas.
Also, being Angelinos, or at least close to Angelinos, you might enjoy this link:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=9354
Hey Ed. Happy Hanukkah to you and your wife. :-)
ReplyDeleteDon't you love that picture!!!!
I could have taken a picture of the menorah at my house, but I thought these were just so lovely, that I had to use it.
The reason I said what I said, is that many years ago, I heard about something called a "hanukki" (note that I never saw the word written, this was an oral question one year from a producer of a show we were doing.) She asked if I had ever heard of one and I told her no. She said that a Hanukkah menorah holds nine candles and other menorahs hold less candles. So I figured I would qualify my statement, since these seemed (as best I could see in the picture) to hold just 8.
You have any plans to come south this holiday season? E-me if you do.
Thanks for the link.
ReplyDeleteOh and Antonio was on the Chabad Telethon earlier this year and he can definitely hold his own, dancing with Chabad. :-)
I changed the wording on the picture caption, to make it more clear. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteI clicked the pic above and looked at the large version. I can see that the text to the lower left of the photo on the table reads (and I've marked with [???] where some of it is clipped):
ReplyDeleteThe Menorah is the ancient seven-branched candelabrum of the Jewish Temple that symbolized the seven days of creation. A nine-branched version came into being for use in [???] "Festival of Lights"—Chanukah.
Also I Googled Menorahs and found a Wikipedia entry which states up front:
This article is about the seven branched candelabrum used in the Temple in Jerusalem. For the nine branched candelabrum used on Hanukkah which is sometimes called a menorah, see Hanukiah.
And here's the Jewish Virtual Library page on the Menorah stating:
One of the oldest symbols of the Jewish faith is the menorah, a seven-branched candelabrum used in the Temple. The kohanim lit the menorah in the Sanctuary every evening and cleaned it out every morning, replacing the wicks and putting fresh olive oil into the cups. [This] illustration ... is based on instructions for construction of the menorah found in Exodus 25:31-40.
It has been said that the menorah is a symbol of the nation of Israel and our mission to be "a light unto the nations." (Isaiah 42:6). The sages emphasize that light is not a violent force; Israel is to accomplish its mission by setting an example, not by using force. This idea is highlighted in the vision in Zechariah 4:1-6. Zechariah sees a menorah, and G-d explains: "Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit."
The lamp stand in today's synagogues, called the ner tamid (lit. the continual lamp; usually translated as the eternal flame), symbolizes the menorah.
The nine-branched menorah used on Chanukah is commonly patterned after this menorah, because Chanukah commemorates the miracle that a day's worth of oil for this menorah lasted eight days.
The menorah in the First and Second Temples had seven branches. After the Temples were destroyed, a tradition developed not to duplicate anything from the Temple and therefore menorah's no longer had seven branches. The use of six-branched menoras became popular, but, in modern times, some rabbis have gone back to the seven-branched menoras, arguing that they are not the same as those used in the Temple because today's are electrified.
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Of course, despite all that I'm still confused because A) I'm not Jewish, and B) the Menorahs in your pic all look to me to have four branches each side of the center stem. There looks to me to be a spot for a candle on the center stem as well for the two on the left, though the two on the right and the one in the middle/back look like they aren't made for center candles. Not sure what the deal is with those.
There now, wasn't that completely UNhelpful???
:-)