My
Chanukiyah (Chanukah menorah) is quite possibly the bane of my existence.
Additionally, the holiday of Shavuot is my nemesis holiday, but that’s for a
future post. Now, I don’t know if all religiously observant people, regardless
of the faith, have religious items that are out to cause their demise (or
holidays that have become their mortal enemy for that matter) or if it’s just
me, but this year will be the last year I use this Chanukiyah. You win menorah.
You win.
Please
observe.
Now,
what looks like a completely innocent, typical Chanukiyah sitting quietly on my
shelf, is actually taunting me on a daily basis. It reminds me that in 11 days
or so, I will have to light it. This is an issue because I have been unable to
find candles to fit it. Every year, I search every local store (I mean
EVERY store) trying to find candles that will fit in this Chanukiyah. And
every year I have failed.
In
my quest to find candles that fit I have been the recipient of: inappropriate
jokes, some good-natured teasing, confused looks, many questions, anti-Semitism,
overzealous individuals who are thrilled at the prospect of helping a Jew
(seriously- this part always involves a lot of touching from complete
strangers) and the butt of one wild goose chase resulting in me getting laughed
out of a store. That last one was my bad though. A cashier at a large chain
store assured me that if I went to the local Christian Book store and asked
them for candles they should have them. She promised me they always have a
Chanukah section. They did not. I really should have seen that one coming.
Sigh.
So
every year, after exhausting every option, I wind up buying 6 boxes of
Manischewitz Shabbat candles and whittling down 45 of them to fit inside the
cups on the Chanukiyah. It’s exhausting, sometimes bloody, and just feeds the
animosity between me and this menorah. Not this year though. I found
candles that almost fit. Almost. They are going to lean a little, so I’m going
to have to pay attention that I don’t catch my apartment on fire. They are also
all different colors and I’m not 100% sure they are going to go out when I blow
on them, but the point is, they almost fit.
And
so this will be the last year I use this menorah. Mostly because the store
where I found the candles that almost fit went out of business but also because
I’m ready to throw in the towel. I have doggedly hung on, because, well…it was
my first one. I bought it with my mother for my first Chanukah. It’s
special. Not special enough to keep putting up with this bull crap every
year though. So, it will get moved to a high shelf where it can watch my
new Chanukiyah (that I haven’t found yet) do what it’s supposed to do. A Chanukiyah
I have a much better working relationship with that doesn’t involve cut
fingers, wax shavings and being the butt of jokes. Take that,
soon-to-be-old-Chanukiyah. Take that.
Post
Script
No
Chanukiyahs were harmed in the writing of this post. But don’t think I didn’t
think about it.
But it's so pretty...
ReplyDeleteI may be wrong but isn't it true that you use un burnt or new candles every night for the menorah? Minus the fact that they may burn to far to reuse, is there a symbolic or religious reason behind it?
ReplyDeleteHi Allison, that is a great question, thank you for asking! You are correct that we use new candles each night and are again correct as to why we use new one. Simply it's because they have to be lit for at least 30 mins (and hour and half on shabbat) before they can be blown out. Usually they are left to burn longer and as such have to be replaced with a fresh candle that will burn for the above mentioned 30 minutes. So while it's more of a practical reason we replace the candles there are a lot of symbolic and religious traditions surrounding the candles. For example, traditionally the lights of the menorah should come from candles or oil, and are always lit from left to right. I hope this answered your question!
Delete