A menorah (sometimes capitalized) is a branched candelabrum with seven candle-holders. The menorah was the ancient representation of the Hebrews and is one of the oldest symbols of the Jewish people. It is said to symbolise the burning bush, as seen by Moses.
[image]The presence of a menorah in some synagogues is purely symbolic. Some synagogues today use a lamp-stand called the Ner tamid to symbolize the menorah. [image]
The nine-candle menorah is used to celebrate Hanukkah. Hanukkah originally celebrated the Maccabees' defeat of the superior Syrian army. However, post-biblical Jewish tradition as recorded in the Talmud describes that when the Maccabees were rededicating the Temple, they only found enough oil to light the menorah for one day. A miracle occurred and the oil lasted for eight days. To celebrate Hanukkah, one candle is lit on the first night, two candles are lit on the second night, etc. The ninth candle, the "shammes" (in Yiddish) or "shamash" (in Hebrew), is a "helper candle" that is used to light the others, and to provide light, since tradition holds that one could not use the Hanukkah lights to illuminate one's home.
The design for the Menorah contains a central stem in its candelabrum which is referred to as Shamash. It is believed by some historians that this central stem is named after Shamash, the semitic sun-god, and that the combined seven branches or stems relate to the Seven heavenly objects which were worshipped by several cultures in ancient Persia. Shamash is also an ordinary word, in the Hebrew language, for an attendant, caretaker, custodian, or synagogue janitor. While this could easily discount the connection with the semitic god, it could also be a later Folk etymology resulting from the forgetting of the semitic god. (This might be an anachronistic argument, as the central branch is never referred to as a shamash until very recently in history, and then only in connection with Hanukkah menorahs- on which it is often not the central branch- not the Temple one.)
One can only speculate whether it remained there until the city was sacked or was brought back to Jerusalem, in either case potentially still existing. Another theory is that the Menorah was melted down during the Byzantine Iconoclasm, a period during which most of the 3-dimensional religious icons of the empire were destroyed.
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| Birth: Brit milah | Zeved habat (Simchat Bat) | Hebrew name | Redemption of First-born (Pidyon Haben) | |
| Coming of Age: Upsherin | B'nai Mitzvah | |
| Adult: Ablution in Judaism | Prayers and blessings | |
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| Items of religious significance: Tzitzit | Tallit | Tefillin | Yarmulke-Kippa | Menorah | |
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