Page 43 - HANUKIYA

Travel
Companions

Merchants, shluchim, Jews traveling to a
new home in a new land — when Chanukah
came around, they all needed a menorah
to light. In Mr. Hoffman’s collection are
several travel menorahs from around the
world, including one from Tunis, which is
about 100 years old; one from the United
States with an inscription in ivory that tells
us it belonged to Max Wiener and is also
about a century old; and one that belonged
to a Reb Greenwald from Bendin (Bedzin),
Poland, which also dates from around the
same period.

Full-sized Chanukah menorahs don’t usually
have the names of their owners inscribed
upon them, unless they were presented
as a gift and therefore have a dedication
plaque. But perhaps travel menorahs were
different. It’s easy to imagine the scene
at some roadside inn in Poland or Tunisia,
where a dozen or more travelers have set
up their Chanukah lights.

Having your name inscribed on your
menorah would help to prevent mix-ups
when, the following day, everyone packed
their belongings and went on their way,
carrying the memory of the small flame
that dispels a great darkness with them.

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