December 2020 – Art and Beyond

“It’s that time of year again.”

In the US, one usually understands that to mean Christmas. But it’s also the time of year when Hanukah/Chanukah rolls around – the Jewish festival that celebrates the victory of the Maccabees over the larger Syrian army. Chanukah has more or less been distilled into the symbol of the Menorah, the eight-branched candelabrum that is lit over a period of eight days to commemorate a miracle that occurred during this period. But this isn’t a blog about the the history of Chanukah so much as a tiny sampling of the multiple forms this candelabrum can take on in the hands of contemporary artists and artisans.