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My Hanukkah Menorah
Dec. 14th, 2020 10:37 amI thought I posted about this a couple of years ago, but I couldn't find it, so here it is (again).
A few years ago, when I thought about getting a menorah (hanukkiah, but that's not what I grew up calling it), I realized that the "one true menorah" in my head was the one my parents got in Israel when I was little, a mosaic menorah from Kibbutz Eilon. (Their website isn't there anymore, but here it is on archive.org. Eilon Mosaics).
I searched on mosaic menorah and scrolled through a lot of listings, until spotting an etsy listing for the right one! I ordered it, and it pleases me every year. The wonders of the internet, and of something being just right.
Also the wonder of our brains - I can rapidly glance through hundreds of images and tell you if a similar menorah is there or not, or even another item from the same craftspeope, where that would be a hard problem for a computer program.
I like the asymmetry of it, the copper frame and curved foot enclosing the triangle of real Israeli stones. It feels earthy, grounded, solid.
Bonus: Is it Hanukkah or Chanukah? Why the Jewish holiday has multiple spellings by Carly Mallenbaum. I have wondered, and been grumpy about it, and this article explains it all, yay. I grew up with Chanuka, but hardly ever see that anymore. At least the spelling we see now is more about the vagaries of Hebrew than the vagaries of English!
A few years ago, when I thought about getting a menorah (hanukkiah, but that's not what I grew up calling it), I realized that the "one true menorah" in my head was the one my parents got in Israel when I was little, a mosaic menorah from Kibbutz Eilon. (Their website isn't there anymore, but here it is on archive.org. Eilon Mosaics).I searched on mosaic menorah and scrolled through a lot of listings, until spotting an etsy listing for the right one! I ordered it, and it pleases me every year. The wonders of the internet, and of something being just right.
Also the wonder of our brains - I can rapidly glance through hundreds of images and tell you if a similar menorah is there or not, or even another item from the same craftspeope, where that would be a hard problem for a computer program.
I like the asymmetry of it, the copper frame and curved foot enclosing the triangle of real Israeli stones. It feels earthy, grounded, solid.
Bonus: Is it Hanukkah or Chanukah? Why the Jewish holiday has multiple spellings by Carly Mallenbaum. I have wondered, and been grumpy about it, and this article explains it all, yay. I grew up with Chanuka, but hardly ever see that anymore. At least the spelling we see now is more about the vagaries of Hebrew than the vagaries of English!
