Hanukkah is the eight-day Festival of Lights, commemorating the victory of Judah Maccabee's insurgents over the Syrian army in 165 BC. After the Temple in Jerusalem had been cleansed of pagan worship and the altar had been rededicated, only one vessel containing the ritual oil used to light the tabernacle was found. According to tradition, this ritual oil was sufficient, by a miracle, for eight days, until a new batch was produced (M. Siemieński, Księga świąt i obyczajów żydowskich, Warsaw 1993, pp. 73–74).
During Hanukkah, one more candle is lit each day in an eight-branched candelabrum called a hanukkiah, which is placed in the windows or in front of the doors of Jewish homes. The candles are lit by the eldest male in the family. During the holiday, one should not work or even study Torah. Fasting is also forbidden (A. Unterman, Żydzi. Wiara i życie, Łódź 1989, pp. 223–225).
The Hanukkah lamp from the collection of the Vistula Museum in Kazimierz Dolny has a rectangular base with burners. The sides are openwork, made using the filigree technique, with motifs of plant tendrils and rosettes. The backplate is made of brass sheet metal with filigree decorations with plant and floral motifs. In the central section, there is a depiction of the aron kodesh (the holy box in which the Torah scrolls are kept in the synagogue) with an openwork door flanked by two filigree columns. On one of them, there is a filigree griffin, there is a trace of a similar, lost motif on the other one. There is a large rosette over the door. On the top, there is a massive, four-bow crown, braced with brass plate. A shammes holder (additional ninth arm for the candle) was placed at the edge of the backplate, which is missing.
