The Hanukkah lamp from the collection of the District Museum in Tarnów is made of silver. The vertical structure is equipped with symmetrically upwards-curved arms (8 pieces) of oval cross-section. They all end with sleeves in the form of classicist vases with bobeches. The square low foot passes into a chased, semicircular mantle, a cylinder enclosed at the bottom by two rings and a high four-sided stem mounted on it. Decoration in the form of embossed friezes with acanthus leaf motifs was placed on the sides of the plinth, stem rings, vertical rod and sleeves. On the side of the plinth there are three punched hallmarks: 1. the Polish hallmark for silver fineness of "3" from the Kraków Assay Office; 2. auxiliary hallmark for marking minor parts of the product; 3. goldsmith's name hallmark: "JS". Each of the most important parts of the candelabra has auxiliary and personal hallmarks.
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 Hannukah lamp, along with other silver items, were donated to the District Museum in Tarnów in 1973 by the Municipal and District Civic Militia Headquarters in Tarnów. It was found between the ceiling and the floor during renovation works of a tenement house at Lwowska Street. It was probably hidden there by its last owners during World War II. Lwowska Street marked the border of the ghetto, which was liquidated in September 1943.
Barbara Bułdys
