Page 24 - HANUKIYA
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Pass the Peacock,
Please
Sometimes, a decorative element of a mosaics excavated in Eretz Yisrael.
menorah might have a connection to
Jewish tradition, but the real reason It turns up elsewhere, as well. Throughout
it becomes wildly popular is that it’s the centuries, the peacock — which became
also in style in the surrounding culture a symbol of wealth and beauty, as well as
of the time. Peacock menorahs are a dangerous pride — was a popular design motif
prime example. in many cultures. But peacocks really spread
their wings, so to speak, during the late 1800s
Peacocks are mentioned in Melachim I 10:22, and early 1900s, when economic prosperity in
where we are told Shlomo Hamelech received Europe and the United States created a demand
ships from Tarshish bearing precious cargo: for luxury goods. The exotic peacock fit the bill
gold, silver, ivory, apes — and peacocks. The as a decorative device.
Midrash, when describing Shlomo’s throne, says
that sitting on the fourth step leading up to the ThepeacockmenorahinMr.Hoffman’scollection
throne was a gold eagle facing a gold peacock. is from late 19th-century Vienna. What makes
So we can say the peacock has “yichus,” which his menorah unusual is the oversized base
perhaps explains why it turns up in ancient under the receptacles for the oil. When I asked
Mr. Hoffman if they had a use — were they
24 perhaps containers to hold additional oil — he
said no. They are for decorative purposes only.
