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Object Alone

Obj. ID: 22096
Sacred and Ritual Objects  Ner Hanukkah from the Beit Abraham Congregation, Ioannina, 1868

© Center for Jewish Art, Photographer: Radovan, Zev, 2001

The Hanukkah lamp consists of a back wall and a row of oil containers.

A row of eight spouted oil containers, organized in two groups of four, is fastened to the bottom of the back wall. An additional container, used as a shamash (server), was attached to the left upper part of the back wall (now missing). 

The arched back wall is composed of two symmetrical interlaced scrolled branches, emerging from an acanthus leaf in the centre and flanking a heart-shaped shield. The shield encloses a double-arched Tables of the Covenant inscribed with the Ten Commandments, five on each side, and mounted over a dedicatory inscription. A citation from Proverbs borders the Tables:

"כי נר מצוה/ ותורה אור" (משלי ו:כג).

“For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light” (Prov. 6:23).

The inscription “כתר תורה” "The Crown of Torah” identifies the crest, formed as a crown flanked by a wreath of olive branches.

The dedicatory inscription inscribed in square, linear Hebrew characters, in eight lines, and reads (fig. 1):

"הנרות חנוכה של כסף הללו הקדישם/ האשה הגבירת מרת שרה ת''ם (תבורך מנשים, מבוסס על שופטים ה:כד) לק''ק (קהל קדוש) בית/ אברהם יע''א (יכוננה עליון אמן) לחייה ולמנוחת בעלה כה''ר (כבוד הרב)/ אברהם שלמה נ''ע (נוחו עדן) והיה בבואו אל/ הקודש (מבוסס על שמות כח:כט; ויקרא י:יח, טז:כג; יחזקאל מד:כז) ביום כ''ה תברכו לחודש/ כסלו אתן שנת 'אהב צדקה/ ומשפט' (תהלים לג:ה) לפ''ג (לפרט גדול) פה/ יאנינא יע''א (יבנה עירו אמן)."

“These silver Hanukkah candles (see: Remarks: no.1) were dedicated by the woman of substance, Mrs. Sarah blessed above women (Judg. 5:24), for the Holy congregation Beit Abraham (The house of Abraham), may the Sublime establish it, amen, for her life and for the repose of her husband, the honourable Rabbi Abraham Salomon, may he rest in Eden. And when it (the Hanukkah lamp) goeth into the Sanctuary (based on Ex. 28:29; Lev. 10:18, 16:23; Ezek. 44:27) on the blessed (day), the 25th of the month of Kislev, (the year)  'I will give a year of love, righteousness and judgment' (based on Ps. 33:5 'He loveth righteousness and judgment' = 09.12.1868), here Ioannina, may He build His city, amen.”

The sum of the letters of the verse "צדקה ומשפט" ("righteousness and judgment") written in large and bold letters, indicates the year 5629, which corresponds to Hanukkah, 1868.

A suspension loop is attached to the top of the reverse side of the back wall.

Summary and Remarks
Remarks

2 image(s)

sub-set tree:

Name/Title
Ner Hanukkah from the Beit Abraham Congregation | Unknown
Object Detail
Monument Setting
Unknown
Date
1868 (inscription)
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Unknown
Origin
Historical Origin
Community type
Location
Unknown |
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Period Detail
Collection
Greece | Sc_525
| 78
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Iconographical Subject
Textual Content
Unknown |
Languages of inscription
Unknown
Shape / Form
Unknown
Material / Technique
Silver

Material Stucture
cut, raised (oil containers), cast (apex)
Material Decoration
engraved, punched
Material Bonding
soldered (apex), hook inserted into a loop (attaching the oil containers to the back wall)
Material Inscription
niello
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
Height
225 mm (overall)
Length
60 mm (row of oil containers)
Width
315 mm (overall), 370 mm (row of oil containers), 39 mm (width of each oil container)
Depth
10 mm (inner depth of each oil container)
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition
The shamash is missing.
Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
Present Usage
Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents
Codicology
Scribes
Script
Number of Lines
Ruling
Pricking
Quires
Catchwords
Hebrew Numeration
Blank Leaves
Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
Coin
Coin Series
Coin Ruler
Coin Year
Denomination
Signature
Colophon
Scribal Notes
Watermark
Hallmark
None
Group
Group
Group
Group
Group
Trade Mark
Binding
Decoration Program
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance
This Hanukkah lamp was donated to the Beit Abraham Holy Congregation, which was a small synagogue within the Old Holy Congregation compound, also known as the Minyan (fig. 2). The circumstances which led to the establishment of this small synagogue were revealed through several dedicatory inscriptions. The dedicatory inscription engraved on stone, now housed in a storeroom, states that Abraham Salomon died in 1868 and left a debt to the Old Congregation synagogue. After a long negotiation with the members of the community through the help of a trustee, his wife Sarah agreed that the payment of the debt will be carried out by contributing money to build a new synagogue, which will commemorate her husband's name and will grant her honour. The synagogue building was completed three years after Abraham's death in 1871. An additional dedication, now attached to the wall of the Old Congregation synagogue, declares that Sarah maintained the synagogue's activities. However, three years later, in 1874 she conditioned her financial support on a ceremony conducted regularly 'in splendor and glory,' in Abraham's memory with a special prayer recited for her long life. The Beit Abraham Holy Congregation was destroyed during World War II, but due to the inscriptions mentioned above, the documentation team was able to discover the history of the synagogue and where it was located. Another synagogue named Beit Abraham Ve-Ohel Sarah was built in Jerusalem in 1920 by Jews who immigrated from Ioannina. Although the synagogue was dedicated by a couple named Abraham and Sarah, it is possible that they named it after the synagogue they knew in their hometown of Ioannina.
Main Surveys & Excavations
Sources
- Benbenishti, D. Rishmei Masah. Jerusalem: Va'ad Adat Ha-Sephardim Bi-Yerushalim, 1979, In Hebrew. - Benjamin, Chaya. The Stieglitz Collection: Masterpieces of Jewish Art. Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 1987. - Encyclopaedia Judaica. s.v. "Purim Katan." - Fromm, Annette. We Are Few: Folklore and Ethnic Identity of Ioannina, Greece. USA, Dissertation submitted to Indiana University, UMI Dissertation Information Services, 1992. - Narkiss, Mordechai. The Hanukkah Lamp. Jerusalem: Bney Bezalel Publishing Co., 1939. In Hebrew. - Rivlin, Bracha. Pinkas ha-Kehilot: Greece. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1999. In Hebrew. - Stavroulakis, N. P. Jewish Sites and Synagogues in Greece. Athens: Talos Press, 1992.
Type
Documenter
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Author of description
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Architectural Drawings
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Computer Reconstruction
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Section Head
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Language Editor
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Donor
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Negative/Photo. No.
The following information on this monument will be completed:
Unknown |