Yay, only four days until Chanuka, the Festival of Lights!
In Jerusalem's lovely Beit Ticho small museum is the late Dr. Avraham Ticho's international collection of antique Chanukah lamps.
We say chanukia in Hebrew in Israel, although in the Diaspora you more often hear it called a menorah.Sunday night we will light the first candle.
Then, every night we add one additional candle, until at the end of Chanuka there are eight candles and one servant candle burning brightly.
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What a nice Festival, it must be really fascinating.
ReplyDeleteIs it just once a year?
Pietro shalom. Yes, it is fun. Chanuka falls on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev (sometime in December). I'll post more about it during the holiday.
ReplyDeleteMay your Festival of Lights be blessed with friends and family and wonderful times spent together!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to learning more about Chanuka.
I wish you a blessed Chanuka and the coming of the Light in all respects. Dina shalom.
ReplyDeleteLovely, Dina! A blesssed and Happy Chanuka to you and your loved ones!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Lamps.Blessing to you Dina.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. What is the proper greeting for Chanuka? Like Merry Christmas or Happy New Year, is there a greeting? Hope you Chanuka is blessed with peace and joy this year. From your not to bright Christian friend. JC
ReplyDeleteLight!
ReplyDeleteFreedom!
Action!
Aloha & happy Chanukkah everyone!
Beautiful Dina. This is a beautiful jewish celebration.Lighting a candle is like an infinity of prayers.
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful chanuka is so close to Xmas- well it will coincide with christmas then on the last day!
love and light.
shalom.
How lovely to stumble across your blog! I grew up in Jerusalem so it's great to see all these wonderful images and descriptions come alive again. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThose lamps are so exquisite, Dina. I still have that memory of celebrating Chanukah with your family and still a bit mortified when 3 year old Jon blew out the candles after the prayer. Sigh....
ReplyDeleteThanks for popping by. Yes, yes, yes - I'd LOVE to see some images/posts of the Anglican School.
ReplyDeleteI love lighting candles...
ReplyDeleteEvery time we go into a Church or Cathedral.
I shall light a candle on the
24th at the cemetary, for my mum & dad.....and it will burn through the night till Christmas morning...
Great collection of lamps.
chanukia - is that where we get hannukah from???
ReplyDeleteThanks to all for your good wishes of light and love!
ReplyDeleteBright JC, happy Chanuka!
Welcome Catherine. How exciting that you grew up in Jerusalem! So glad you were led to this blog.
Kay, I had forgotten that. LOL! Sweet Jon knew how to blow out candles like on a cake. LOL again.
Shalom Dina in the UK. What a touching thing to do for your parents, z"l, on Christmas Eve.
Kiwi Maria, it's the other way around. The word "chanuka" just means dedication in Hebrew. But here in context of the historical events it is more of a RE-dedication.
Here is Chabad's telling:
"More than twenty-one centuries ago, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who sought to forcefully Hellenize the people of Israel. Against all odds, a small band of faithful Jews defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of G-d."
It is strange to be writing this to you, a Greek. It somehow reminds me of a Sunday in 1999 in Arkansas. Michael Tsakalos, a young friend and one of our roommates in the volunteer house at Heifer Ranch, was Greek Orthodox but somehow we both went to services at the local Methodist church that morning. He had not fasted and confessed and "properly" prepared for the Eucharist. So he and I were the only ones left on the pew as all the Protestants lined up to receive Communion. We looked at each other and he said, "The Greek and the Jew, sitting it out."
hilarious!
ReplyDeleteHope I will remember to come back to wish you an Happy beginning Chanuka (thought it was written Hanukkah in France?)on Sunday Thanks to give us the date, I won't forget to send good wishes to my friends.
ReplyDeleteCatherine, there are many different ways to transliterate the Hebrew word Hanukka/Chanuka, whatever.
ReplyDelete