Falling behind faster

[nightdog_barks]

Last night was the last night of Hanukkah, so here's a pic of our menorah from the night before!




Yes, that's the Alcove of Honor in our house, tucked in amongst the CDs, the boombox, pruning shears, and an open package of paper napkins. Plus the bits of colored wax from the previous nights' candles, which no one swept off the platter (it would've been me because Mister Nightdog, who is the only actual Jewish person in the house, doesn't care). I used all white candles for this night's pic. The alcove is also where we light the (two) Sabbath candles every Friday night (not in a menorah), so that's where the candles live. And that's about it. Mister N doesn't keep kosher, and sometimes he doesn't observe all the (major) holidays, but hey. My country, 'tis of thee. *g*



Anyway, that's our menorah. I think it's brushed aluminum, and it has a really nice weight to it. I like it a lot -- a whole lot more than the one we had before, which was this little dinky thing with the candle-holders way too close together, so it was an absolute bitch to get the shammas candle in and out.

Need to order Christmas stuff for the friends and family who get Christmas stuff. Need to send out holiday cards. Still have not decided about a tree. Sigh.

Was deeply, seriously underwhelmed by the Doctor Who season finale. :-(

Comments

[lovelythings]

Pretty <3

[nightdog_barks]

♥ ♥ ♥

[felis]

Thank you for sharing this!

(No thoughts on Doctor Who, because I'm behind and haven't seen the last two episodes yet. But I was a bit sad when I heard that there isn't going to be a new season next year.)

[nightdog_barks]

Me too! I knew there wasn't going to be a Christmas special, but there will be a New Year's show, but then I thought there would be new episodes in the fall. BUT NO. I know there have been long gaps before, but this just seems unusual. And I've been liking this season! I like the Doctor, I like the companions (all of them), I've mostly liked the stories ... I thought the season finale was a clunker, though. Oh well.

[silverjackal]

That is a beautiful menorah. It certainly seems to be nice and sturdy. I've seen some frightfully fragile ones on occasion, which present a real fire hazard with their risk of tipping over or falling apart. My candle holders are mostly soapstone or onyx for that reason, aesthetics aside.

[nightdog_barks]

Oh, onyx and soapstone can be very nice! :D

My problem with menorahs has been that the holders are either too large (so you'd need candles with the approximate circumference of a redwood tree), or the holders are too close together, so that you can't get the shammas candle back into the center without KNOCKING OUT THE ONES ON EITHER SIDE. And obviously, in the Whole Scheme of Things, it's not that big a deal, but it's annoying af. So this year I thought, "Been there, done that," and I went menorah-shopping. And I bought this one. From Amazon. And we are very happy with it. :DDD

[silverjackal]

LOL, Amazon, for all one's spiritual product needs... (I'm joking, but if it works it works.) While I prefer the simpler metal menorahs from a spiritual point of view, I'm also fond of the ones with scenes cut in metal behind them, like this but the risk of burning one's fingers or knocking the works over is if anything even higher. I don't know why they insist on making menorahs with the candle holders so close together. It's one thing to want a discrete or tiny menorah for particular reasons, it's quite another to have the majority designed such that they are semi-functional, or present a safety risk. My mother has one which was given to her as a gift many years ago. It's a beautiful little thing, brass enameled blued and green, and the candle holder portions are so close they almost touch. Even the tiniest candles are impossible to manage safely when lit.

[nightdog_barks]

AMAZON HAS EVERYTHING I'M TELLING YOU

:D

Some of the menorahs on that Judaica site are beautiful! I like the Tree of Life one, with the tiny birds. :-)

Our little menorah, the small dinky one, is brass, enameled with blue, green, and red. I think someone gave it to us -- perhaps Mister N's parents -- and it was fine when we were both young(er) and our fingers were not quite so old and clumsy. But this bigger menorah is just so much easier to use. I actually think we will celebrate Hanukkah every year now, instead of letting it slide like we have been.

[silverjackal]

I didn't think to peruse their whole selection before since I was just hunting for a representation of a type of menorah, but they certainly have some lovely creative pieces. I'm greatly enamoured with this one and only deterred from saving to buy it by not actually being Jewish*. ;D I thought this one marvelous for how creative and modern it is while still having strong cultural resonances (to my eye, anyway, exposed as I was to both Ashkenazi and Sephardic Judaism), and then I saw this one and had to point it out to you in case you had not seen it. Does Mr. Nightdog similarly love birds? It strikes me as a singularly personally appropriate menorah for you, but perhaps not for both of you.

*It has a strong Kemetic vibe, artistically speaking, but of course I would never be so disrespectful as to knowingly appropriate the symbols of a faith I do not practice.

[nightdog_barks]

He does like birds! I think he would like that one. I also like this menorah, with the two storks or ibis*.

*The more I think about it, the more I suspect they are ibis. I read an article very recently about how in Australia, some ibis are referred to as bin chickens, because of their propensity for digging in the trash. Of course, they're digging in the trash because they've lost habitat. :-(

[silverjackal]

Every nation has people guilty of not appreciating their native wildlife, but Australia seems to be particularly vocal about it. Granted, much of their native fauna can kill humans, but the principal remains.

Did you see that the hummingbird menorah also comes in a patina brass? Truthfully I've never paid much attention to menorah designs apart from admiring various ones in the homes of friends, but I can now identify my mother's menorah as an "Antique Jerusalem" one, just on a small scale. Hers is from Israel, so I'm sure the person who gave it to her (I'm not sure who that was) actually brought it back as a souvenir for gifting. "Next year, in Jerusalem" yes? :) I don't know how thoroughly you perused their website, but I thought you'd also really like the twitter bird menorah. It reminds me of a New Kingdom Egyptian papyrus that shows a similar scene of various brilliant bird species.

[nightdog_barks]

Oh, the birds are gorgeous! :D

And I kept meaning to say the other day (and it kept slipping my mind) ... if you really like some of those menorahs, you should buy one. To me, at least, there's a great difference between appropriation and appreciation, and I think if one treats an object with respect for its artistic qualities and workmanship, no harm is done. For instance, I like this 19th-century Russian icon, depicting Our Lady of the Sign. I think it's a lovely portrayal of mystery and wonder, and the way the artist used red to bring the figure forward is really nicely done. I'm not Russian/Eastern Orthodox, but I would have no hesitation in setting it in a prime place on our mantel. The same with this small 18th-century brass plaque showing the Nativity of Christ. Or a little statue of Lord Ganesha, or the Lord Buddha, or Saint Francis for the garden. As long as an object that may be considered sacred to others is treated with respect, it's all good.

And besides, I asked Mister N if he, as a Jew, would consider it appropriation if a non-Jew were to purchase a menorah or a shofar or a tallis or whatever, because they appreciated the artistry/workmanship of the object, and he said no. So there you have it. AN AUTHORITATIVE RULING FROM A JEWISH GUY RAISED REFORM IN THE AMERICAN MIDWEST. :DDD

[silverjackal]

Thank you to yourself (and Mr. Nightdog) for thinking of me in this regard. I still feel like it would be appropriation in my particular case because I use every candle holder I have in the house, and so for me it would cross the line into being inappropriate (as opposed to someone purchasing one from sheer appreciation of its' beauty).