Objects

Hanukkah lamp (hannukiyah)

The custom of lighting lights during Hanukkah has been established since ancient times and is subject to a strict ritual. Candles or oil burners are lit in the correct order, starting from the right. On the first day one light is lit, on the second day two, and so on, until the last, on the eighth evening of the feast. As the flame cannot be transferred from one candle to another, they are lit by an additional candle or a movable holder called a sham(m)ash or sham(m)es (literally: servant, helper), which is attached to each hannukiah (Judaica w zbiorach Muzeum Narodowego w Warszawie, ed. E. Martyna, Warsaw 1993, p. 242).

The preserved fragment of a Hanukkah lamp is shaped like an inverted isosceles triangle with a truncated apex. It has four stepped arms with gentle, curving descents. The surface is decorated with engraved ornamentation, filled with black pigment that has faded in places. The text field is surrounded by a simple incised frame. The Hebrew text, "Praise God for these holy lights", is arranged in two lines. In the centre, there is a nine-branched candelabrum flanked by decorative elements. On the lower plane, there is a small, circular opening for attaching the lamp to a base. On the upper plane, there are eight metal sleeves, on which small containers (bowls) were placed for candles or oil. The central ninth sleeve, to which the additional holder for a candle was attached, is missing.

The lamp is a donation from the Municipal Museum in Nowa Sól. It was handed over in 1993 in connection with the establishment of the Judaic Department and a permanent exhibition dedicated to the history and culture of Jews at the Leszno Museum. The item was discovered during cleaning work in the attic of one of the tenement houses, along with a collection of several hundred glass plates from the former Jewish Museum in Berlin.

Dariusz Czwojdrak

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Information about the object
Author / creator
unknown
Object type
handicrafts
lighting
Time of creation / dating
4th quarter of the 19th century
Place of creation
unknown
Technique
smoothing
engraving
Material
marble
Keywords
Copyright status
the object is not protected by copyright law
Owner
Local Museum in Leszno
Identification number
MLI/3