Menorah

and Menorah from the Harry S Truman collection]]
The menorah ('' . It is displayed in Jewish Synagogues . The menorah was the ancient representation of the Hebrews and is one of the oldest symbols of the Jew ish people. It said to symbolize the Burning Bush as seen by Moses on mount Sinai . It was traditionally lit in the Tabernacle and the Holy Temple In Jerusalem .

Ancient use

A menorah beaten from a single piece of gold was used in the Tabernacle (the portable sanctuary used by the Jews) and later in its successor, the Temple In Jerusalem . Lamps burning Olive Oil were located at the end of each branch. Since the destruction of the Temple, the seven-branched menorah has had no formal role in Jewish Worship . Because of the sanctity of the Temple and its appointments, some authorities forbid the manufacture of menorah resembling the one used there.

Modern use

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Many Synagogues display either a menorah or an artistic representation a menorah. In addition, synagogues feature a continually-lit lamp in front of the Ark , where the Torah Scroll is kept. Called the Ner Tamid , this lamp represents the continually-lit menorah used in Temple times. A menorah appears in the Coat Of Arms Of The State Of Israel .

The term menorah is also used for the lamp holder with spaces for nine candles or oil lamps that are lit during the eight-day Holiday of Hanukkah . Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Temple after the successful Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy. According to the Talmud , the victorious Jews found only enough ritually pure Olive Oil to light the menorah for one day, but the supply miraculously lasted eight days until a new supply could be obtained. The menorah used during Hanukkah is also called a hanukkiah. One of the spaces in the hanukkiah is raised above the others and is used for an auxiliary light, the shamash, which guards against secular use of the other candles or oil lamps and is also used to light them. Each night an additional light is kindled - one on the first night, two on the second night, and so on - until on the eighth night of Hanukkah all eight lights, plus the shamash, are lit.

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, c. 40 BCE]]

ORIGIN

The showing the Romans taking the looted Menorah to Rome after the Temple's destruction, contradict this claim.

An second theory to the origin of the design of the menorah is based on what is known about ancient Hebrew cosmology. According to this theory, the seven branches represent the seven heavenly bodies known at the time, namely the sun and the moon, as well as Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The Jewish historian Josephus alludes to this in the Third Book of his Antiquities Of The Jews . In it, he identifies what he interprets as Egyptian and Grecian pagan influences on the design of the Tabernacle and its contents. He writes: "...for if any one do without prejudice, and with judgment, look upon these things, he will find that they were every one made in way of imitation and representation of the universe...and as to the seven lamps upon the candlesticks, they referred to the course of the planets, of which that is the number....".

A third theory is that the menorah originated as the tree of life symbolizing the mother goddess Asherah (see "Asherah, the Tree of Life and the Menorah" . Of course, in the Pentateuch, it has been purged of all polytheistic symbolism.

FATE

The fate of the menorah used in the Second Temple is uncertain. A depiction of it is preserved on the Arch Of Titus that still stands today in Rome . The menorah is said to have remained in Rome until its sack by the Vandals in AD 455 , but the Byzantine Army under General Belisarius took it back in the 6th Century and brought it to Constantinople . Thereafter, no further mention appears in any Byzantine source.

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Menorah