Chanuka menorahs from all over the world

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How would you like to kindle the Chanuka lights in this strange stone vessel from Persia?
The Jewish Art Museum at Hechal Shlomo lists it as a 19th century menorah for Chanuka and Shabbat.

(Please click on the photos if you'd like to see the details.)

I visited last Thursday, just a few days before a special display for Chanuka week was arranged.
So I have no idea what the menorah under wraps was for.

But the one next to it was as tall as me.

Such a differance a few centuries can make in the designs.

In and on the case are both old and modern chanukiyot.

"Hanukkah Lamp, Baghdad, Iraq, 18th century, brass, cast"

The oddest chanukiya I found was this brass one from 18th century Austria.

The double-headed eagle with cannon at his feet, is it not an unusual choice for a Jewish ceremonial object?

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This week our world in Israel revolves around Chanuka observances and festivities (kids have vacation from school for the holiday), so this is what I have to share at the bloggers' worldwide meme, "That's My World."

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Gelt, then and now

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During the week of Chanuka kids are given some coins as a gift.
Chanuka gelt (Yiddish for money) became a tradition in 17th century Poland.
Nowadays little pouches of foil-covered chocolate "coins" are welcome, too.

These coins are on display at the Jewish Art Museum in Hechal Shlomo in Jerusalem.
Fourteen gold coins were in the pomegranate jar discovered in the stones of the Holy Ark of the 6th century synagogue Dir Aziz in the Golan.

That is the emperor Justinian I on the Byzantine-era coins (I think).

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Sure wish I could give this little treasure to my grandkids as Chanuka gelt!

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Luminous laptop

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Across the miles, from my computer to yours, HAPPY CHANUKA !

Chanuka, the Festival of Lights, began yesterday, with the just one candle being lit by the shamash helper candle.

One more candle is added each evening.

Next Friday the chanukiya will be full, with maximum brightness and cheer, as in this picture (which is extra nice when enlarged).

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Happy holiday and happy "Weekend Reflections," the nice meme hosted by James in Pennsylvania.

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Candle time

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Tonight is the beginning of the 8-day Festival of Lights. Happy Chanuka!


Normally the chanukiya (Chanuka menorah) is lit at nightfall, when it is dark. But tonight is also the eve of the Sabbath, so we light the chanukiya BEFORE sundown and THEN light the two Shabbat candles.
This because making fire is considered work and work is forbidden on the Sabbath, the day of rest.

In the first photo you see my modern-style chanukiya (gift from dear daughter Naomi) in the kitchen window.
The chanukiya is traditionally placed in a window or near the door or is lit outside in order to "publicize the miracle" to everyone.
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The candle at the left is the shamash, the servant candle which lights the others.
Tomorrow night there will be two candles and one shamash.
Every night another candle is added and the light increases.
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Shabbat shalom and happy Chanuka!
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And many thanks to all the non-Jewish bloggers who are beginning to post about Chanuka and especially to actress/author/blogger Petrea at Pasadena Daily Photo for her kind words about me and her deep insights about life.
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Long bench in tall building

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Isn't this the longest bench you've ever seen??
And with the strangest color?
A dozen teenage schoolgirls were sitting on this mega-bench the first time I saw it.

You would hardly guess the bench was in this fancy building.
Heichal Shlomo is the bastion of the Jerusalem Chief Rabbinate and many religious organizations. Attached to it, on the right, is the Jerusalem Great Synagogue.
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Yesterday I entered Heichal Shlomo for the first time in my life.
To my delight and surprise, I discovered their wonderful museum and a synagogue with beautiful stained glass windows. Photos will follow soon.
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Meanwhile, greetings to RuneE at Visual Norway and all the other participating bench-watchers at his "Bench on Friday."
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Mary in the clouds

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This afternoon the clouds seemed to be pointing to the haloed Madonnina, the patron saint of Milan.
By tradition, no building in Milan is higher than the Madonnina. Not so in Jerusalem.

Mary's hands and gesture look so graceful, even from far below.

This is the Terra Santa building that I showed you last night, across from France Square.

This monumental building typical of Italian public buildings of the period was dedicated in 1927.

It served as a boys' college (high school), administered by the Franciscan order.

From 1949 it was used by the Hebrew University and by the National Library.

At the beginning of this century the Franciscans took it back.

Terra Santa was designed by Antonio Barluzzi, the Italian architect who made many of the newer Catholic churches in Jerusalem.
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The wintery Jerusalem sky says Shalom to all the different skies appearing tonight at SkyWatch Friday. Keep looking up!

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"La Ville-Lumière"

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On my way home from Jerusalem last night, I was happy to see the new fountain all lit up.

And across the street, the 1926 Terra Santa College Building, after its recent renovation by the Franciscans, was also warmly illuminated.

This small square is squished between many intersecting busy streets.

Because of its exposure to passing traffic it is often a venue for political demonstrations.

The rock says "Kikar Tsarfat" in Hebrew and "Place de France" in French, but it is also known as Paris Square.

The story goes like this, quoting the fun guide book Jerusalem--Step by Step by Batya and Avigdor Kornboim:

"The mayor of Paris visited Jerusalem in 2006 and announced that he would donate an 82-foot (25 meters) model of the Eiffel Tower to be displayed at the site in honor of the 40th anniversary of the city's liberation. The city declined the phallic monument, and a replica of a famous fountain was promised instead."

So on June 1, 2008 a more modest 13-foot (4 meters) was dedicated by Mayor Bertrand Delanoë, this time in honor of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel.

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But what I really wanted to show you is the temporary big Chanukah menorah put up in Paris Square by Chabad! (They have many all around the city.)

Chanukah comes early this year. On Friday afternoon the first of eight lights will be lit and the 8-day holiday will begin.

Then both Paris, "La Ville-Lumière," AND Jerusalem can be called the City of Lights.

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Ultra-good ultrasound news!

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It's a GIRL!
Most probably it is a girl!

Isn't she sweet?!
My first granddaughter, after three grandsons.

My daughter and her husband and their two little boys live in Sydney, Australia. Naomi posted these ultrasound photos on their blog two weeks ago. Her little one is due in April.

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My son and his wife and their son live in Los Angeles.

As you can imagine, our family on three continents has fun with video-calling on (free!) Skype.

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Nu, can you help us think of some girl-names?

Best if the name sounds good in Hebrew and in English.

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Happy ABC Wednesday U Day.

A modern olive press

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Exactly two years ago today I got to watch for the first time how olives are pressed!
This blog did not exist yet then. But now it does, and for That's My World Tuesday I'm happy to show you where olive oil comes from.

Olive trees have been cultivated here in the hills around Jerusalem for thousands of years.
My neighbor-friends have a few trees and I helped them pick the olives.
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We drove the full sacks to the Trappist Monastery of Latrun.
First they were weighed on the big scale.

Then placed in the hopper.

Quickly transported upwards on a conveyor belt.

Lots of noise. They were shaken and cleaned of any leaves or little stones.

Then the ~grinding began. (Not sure what the proper word is here.)

The workers wore ear protection.

The machine comes from olive-rich Italy.

Click to enlarge here--maybe you understand the Italian (or the Hebrew that had been added).

Just think how donkeys once had to go around and around in circles, pushing a heavy crushing stone, before this machine was invented.

Here it comes!

Beautiful pure olive oil!

The pomace, pulp left over after pressings, goes through the pipe into a wagon.

In Hebrew it is called gefet.

The Bedouin and Arabs have long known how to turn this gefet into fuel. Now Israeli Jews are learning too.

 In wood-burning stoves gefet becomes an ecologically perfect fuel, burning with 2.5 times more energy than a comparable piece of wood. And what is left after burning can be put on the garden as fertilizer.

Back home from the monastery, I felt deep pleasure contemplating the clear rich oil, the fruit of our labor.

With its long history, its use in the menorah and for anointing, olive oil is much more than just a food.
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Stopgap

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Jaffa Road, a main artery in central Jerusalem, has been torn up for a long time, leaving little room for pedestrians and for buses and cars.

Laying of the track and of the infrastructure for the new light rail is costing millions.
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I find it humorous that in what should be such a sophisticated project they protect the still-open tubes from rain with left-over plastic bottles.

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Advent

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Latin: com- means "with" and pān(is) means "bread."
So literally, COMPANIONS are those with whom we break bread.
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A blessed second Sunday of Advent to all my Christian friends.
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The birds and the bees

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The "wildlife" sightings in my neighborhood for Camera-Critters were pretty tame today.
We had the birds and the bees, as usual.

The neighbor's pet pigeons were out for their daily exercise.
They are of a special breed with feathers on their legs and feet.
Remember the post on the ugly chick?

The bees were buzzing at the doors to their colorful bee boxes.

And a cat was preening on the shed roof as Jerusalem on the hill turned gold with the last rays of the Sabbath sun.

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Another quiet Shabbat in the Jerusalem Hills.

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Reflecting on the airport

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A backward ISRAEL reflected in the entrance to Terminal 3 at Ben-Gurion International Airport.
The 60 is for our country's 60th year celebrations in 2008.


If you walk on past the top-floor entrance, there is a lonely place to sit on a bench.

But you would have to stand up and look down to see the pretty palm trees.

Across the street from the bench you can also zoom in to see the top of the control tower.

Enlarge the photo and you will be greeted with "WELCOME TO ISRAEL."

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BTW, a marked security car came and stood near me. Guess the guard wanted to see what kind of nut was out there in a lonely place photographing benches (AND control tower). And well, I DID have a (suspicious?) small backpack on my back.

He honked and I put the camera in my pocket and moved on, trying to look like the innocent grandmother that I am. :)

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We bloggers just have to get our shots--oops, I mean photos--for RuneE's "Benches on Friday" and James' "Weekend Reflections." Right?

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Sun down, moon up

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Autumn in Israel is the season for dramatic sunsets and moonrises.

Enlarge the picture above and you might think the rings of Saturn had jumped over to the sun.

Nope. The "rings" stayed where they were in the cloud as the sun slipped behind the little choobchik mountain at 4:28 p.m.

Yesterday at 4:58 p.m. I looked out my window just in time to see the moon rising over the west edge of Jerusalem.

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Happy SkyWatch Friday to you, wherever you are.

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Tiberias tombs, part II

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Thank you all for your comments and questions on yesterday's post. They are of great interest to me.
Today let's continue the subject and look at some of the things which caught my eye as I roamed the ancient Jewish cemetery of Tiberias.

My first time to see such memorial flames.
The oil + water probably can burn for a long time.

As a sign of respect, visitors put a stone on the tomb.

Also, mourners place a pebble on the earth that has been shoveled into the grave as they depart from a funeral.

This admor (great rabbi) must have LOTS of people who come to pay their respects.

If you click to enlarge the picture, you see little notes among the piled stones.

The black is from the many little tea lights lit in his memory.

Prayerbooks are available in a rain-proof book case.

A (very) few of the older graves had been given a coat of blue paint.

I assume this is the old Middle Eastern superstition that this shade of blue drives away "the evil eye."

In the huge cemetery this was the only place I saw with anything to sit on.

These names are not on graves but rather on a gal'ed, a memorial.

It speaks of the 19 "martyrs," largely women and children, who were stabbed and burned to death, some in the synagogue and some in their homes, when "raiding gangs of Arab rioters" infiltrated the Tiberias neighborhood of Kiryat Shmuel on October 2, 1938.

The 1936-1939 Arab revolt was a hard time for the Jewish residents of Palestine, then under the British Mandate; but the Tiberias massacre was especially shocking.

The words of the prayer are large and clear so that a group of mourners who has just buried their dead relative can recite it in public, together.

However difficult it is to understand why your loved one was taken away, the prayer Tziduk HaDin must be said, as a statement of our faith and trust in God's justice.

It speaks of God giving life to the dead.

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Judaism does not have dogmas, especially not about future things that we have no way of knowing for sure.

Some believe in resurrection and some do not.

This raised walkway over the graves must have been built recently to protect the sensibilities of the ultra-Orthodox. It separates the hundreds of mourners leaving the cemetery after a funeral into MAN [sic] and WOMEN.

After finishing our archaeology work in early afternoon (the dig was just south of the cemetery), I would often stop in the cemetery to roam about, all alone.

When the sun dropped behind the mountain, darkness fell quickly, reminding me it was time to return to the land of the living.

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