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My Hanukkah Menorah
I 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!
no subject
That's a beautiful hanukkia! Hooray for being able to time travel back with Etsy to turn childhood memories into reality.
I've often wondered about the different transliterations so thanks for the explanation (with bonus letter-by-letter analysis). Did you learn to read Hebrew? Do you retain that skill?
no subject
I didn't receive any religious education as a child, but I did take a year and a half of Hebrew in college, so I learned to read the script and some of the print. The teacher assumed everyone had already learned the print. At this point, mostly I can read it if I already know what it says, especially with the missing vowels.
I had a funny moment back in 2007 when I visited Bulgaria and then Israel with my aunt. I was puzzling out an inscription on a column in Tel Aviv, when I realized, wait a minute, that's Cyrillic, not Hebrew! So many half-learned alphabets!