Crackle! Snap! Whoosh! The glowing flames caused my eyes to well up as I struggled to look at them.This occurs each year on Hanukkah, a celebration that lasts for eight days. The use of a menorah or hanukkiah plays a crucial role by holding the candles you light each night. The festival lasts eight days in which we commemorate the rededication of the second temple of Jerusalem. Abraham and Yonah Simon, my great grandparents on my mothers’ side, both left Eastern Europe and moved to Palestine where my grandpa was born. Then, they immigrated to New York with my grandpa as a toddler and later had a daughter Annabelle. Later, they acquired a delicate menorah of brass with embossed copper which now has burnished to a dark brown. Also, the Star of David is depicted underneath the shamash, or known as the servant candle. I’ve inferred this menorah was created by Dayagi whose most notable for designing in the 1940’s/1950’s. I’m excited to learn more about the history of the menorah and share it with my family since this information is newly found.  Furthermore, my family can feel a sense of kinship when gathered around the same flames as our ancestors. Memories of lighting the candles, singing the prayers, spinning the dreidels, and watching the wax melt into the metal is a time each year I look forward to. Now, my cousins, grandpa, and my household meet up and celebrate with each other for Hanukkah using the family heirloom which reminisces us of happy times.


 

– Maya Kleinberg

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant