The Hanuka Message: The Lights Are On and Are Never Totally Dirrimed THE JEWISH. NEWS A Weekly Review Editorial, Page 4 , of Jetuish Events HANUKA Greetings to Jewish Communities Everywhere Copyright (9 -) The Jewish News Publishing Co. VOL. LXXX, No. 16 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 424-8833 - $15 Per Year: This Issue 35c December 18, 1981 HANUKA 5742 This Hanukia dates back as far as 17th Century Iraq. Photo by Shuki Kook, courtesy Hechal Shlomo, Jerusalem. The Magic of the Festival of Lights By JERRY BARACH — World Zionist Press Service JERUSALEM — Most of us know of the Hanuka menora as a rather simple affair, even though our menorot or "Hanukiot," as they are more properly called, may range from inexpensive tin to heavy, solid objects made of silver, copper or brass. Generally, the Hanukiot familiar to most Jews today are of two basic types: the multi-branched menora-shaped ones, with arms or candleholders extending from a central elongated stem, or the "bench" type where the Hanukia sits squatly on the table, with candleholders in a horizon- tal row. In spite of this generality, the Hanukia over the gen- erations has appeared in thousands of design variations, ranging from quite simple stone oil containers to elabo- rate silver, brass and porcelain artifacts. Indeed, the Hanukia has become a highly-developed form of Jewish ceremonial art. Even a short visit to the notable display of Hanukiot at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem — or for that matter to any museum displaying Judaica — will on open one's eyes to the tremendous creativity that has 11.,,een poured into the design of Hanukiot. Not surprisingly, the designs of Hanukiot in various communities and in various epochs are highly reflective of the art of the period and place in which Jews have found themselves. Surprisingly, the Hanukiot also display many of the elements of architecture of those same periods, so much so that three years ago the Israel Museum presented a special exhibition and printed a catalogue illustrating the close connection between Hanukia designs and the local architecture over the past several hundred years. Thus, for example, Yemenite Hanukiot are gen- erally made of stone and show, in some designs, typ- ical Yemenite houses. Those from Poland, in elabo- rately detailed brass or bronze, have elements of , Polish architecture and motifs, including the use of animal figures, which is highly typical of Polish folk art and architecture. One Hanukia on display in the Israel Museum from Galicia is a miniature reproduc- tion of a section of a wooden synagogue in that reg- ion of the past century. Hanukiot from Morocco show extensive use of the crescent, an Islamic motif, and of Moorish arches. In German communities there was even a vogu.* e of producing Hanukiot that were designed as replicas of furniture of the period. An Italian Hanukia that can be seen in the Israel Museum has the loose cross-lace pattern that one can see in the frontal designs of the palaces of the Doges along the Grand Canal of Venice. Elements of Rococo and Baroque design are common in European Hanukiot until very nearly modern times. Even Christian symbols, somewhat disguised, can be noted in the Hanukiot of the last couple of hundred years from Europe. The rosette window, of Gothic churches, for example, can be found on some Hanukiot, as can the crowns of various royal houses of Europe, with the peren- nial cross at the top of the crown replaced disceetly, say by an eagle. Chaya Benjamin, curator of Judaica at the Israel Museum, explains why the Hanukia took on shapes and designs familiar to architecture. First, the Hanukia is of course reminiscent of the rededication of the Temple, it- self a building. Then, the Hanukia is generally lit in the home although in some cases (as can still be seen in very Orthodox quarters in Israel today), it was lit and hung just outside the doorway. Third, Hanukiot were very often designed and made by non-Jewish craftsmen, since Jews were not permitted into the various craft guilds of Europe. Naturally, these craftsmen used the symbols and motifs with which they were most familiar in executing their designs. The oldet Hanukia of the 718 owned by the Is- rael Museum dates back to 14th Century Spain or France. Mrs. Benjamin said she knows of an older _ one, from the 13th Century, which is in a private collection in Faris. There are drawings in manus- cripts of somewhat older ones than that. What, then, has happened to the truly ancient Hanukiot? We know that they have been in use for cen- turies — since just after the Maccabean revolt against the Syrian-Greeks in the time of the Second Tem- ple, when the "miracle of the oil" that burned for eight days occurred in the Temple in Jerusalem. Why, then, have no Hanukiot been found from earlier periods, for example in the many archeological excavations that have been conducted all over Israel? Mrs. Benjamin feels that Hanukiot as a "unit" or special ceremonial object probably did not exist until some several hundred years ago and that people may have used rather plain, everyday stone oil containers or cups in which to kindle their Hanuka lights. Thus, it would be difficult for archeologists to show that small oil containers found in excavations were used specifically for Hanuka lights. The use of small stone oil cups for Hanuka had been the practice in Persian Jewry up to recent times. Fortunately for us, however, the Hanukia or Hanuka menora, with all its magical associations in Jewish life, did begin to develop as an art form among both Eastern and Western Jewry. Today, therefore, we are able to ad- mire and enjoy the many innovative and lovely designs that have been created for its use on this most warm and enjoyable of holidays. (Editor's note: The author of this article, Jerry Barach, is the former editor of the Cleveland Jewish News. He went on aliya to Israel with his family two years ago. His wife,, Norma Barach, writes the weekly recipe column for The Jewish News as a syndicated JTA feature.)