OBJECTS OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIAL 15 



THE FEAST OF HA^•^■KAH (DEDICATION) 



The feast of dedication or Hanukah (the latest addition to the 

 cycle of Jewish festivals) is celebrated for eight days, beginning with 

 the 25th of Kislew (December-January), in commemoration of the 

 purification of the temple and the restoration of the service after the 

 deliverance of Jerusalem from the oppressions of Antiochus Epiphanes, 

 King of Syria, by the Maccabees in 164 B. C. The institution of 

 this festival is related in I Maccabees iv, 47-59. In the New Testa- 

 ment (John X, 22) it is mentioned under the name of kyKalvLa 

 (enkainia), "dedication." The principal feature in the observance 

 of this festival is the Ughting of lights in the synagogue, as well as in 

 private houses, whence it is also called the "feast of lights.'' (Com- 

 pare Josephus, Antiquities, xii, 7, 7.) On the first night one light is 

 lighted, on the second two, and so on to the eighth. The lights are set 

 in a place where people on the street may see them, in the window or b}' 

 the door. They are considered sacred, and must not be employed for 

 any ordinary purpose. For this reason a "servant light" (shammash) 

 is placed next to them, which is used in lighting them. Rabbinical 

 tradition accounts for this feature of the feast by the story that when 

 the priests entered the sanctuary after the Syrians had been driven 

 out, to Ught the perpetual lamp, they found a vial of sacred oil 

 unpolluted, which, under ordinary circumstances, was only sufficient 

 for one night, but by a miracle lasted for eight nights, until new oil 

 could be prepared for the lamps of the candlestick. 



When possible lamps burning ohve oil are to be used, though fre- 

 quently candles made of pure beeswax are employed. In the syna- 

 gogues there is usually for this pm'pose a lamp made after the form of 

 the candlestick (menorah) of the tabernacle and temple, as described 

 in Exodus xxv, 31-140. 



38. Eanukahlamp. — Brass. Height, 6)2 inches; width, 8^4 inches. 

 Wasliington, D. C. (Cat. No. 311979, U.S.N.M.) Bequest of Miss 

 Elizabeth S. Stevens. 



39. Eanukahlamp. — Copper. Probably of Dutch origin. Length, 

 10^2 inches: width, 2% mches. (Plate 3 (upper), fig. 2, Cat. Xo. 

 130295, U.S.N.M.) 



THE FEAST OF ESTHEB (PUEIil) 



Five of the shorter books of the Bible— Canticles, Ruth. Ecclesi- 

 astes. Lamentations, and Esther — are called the "Five Rolls" 

 Qiamesh megilloth), and are read on special occasions during the serv- 

 ice in the synagogue, namely. Canticles on Passover, Ruth on Pente- 

 cost or Feast of Weeks, Ecclesiastes on Tabernacles, Lamentations on 

 the 9th of Ab, and Esther on the Feast of Purim. The first three are 

 read privately by each member from his own copy during a pause in 

 the public service (between the first part of the liturgy and the reading 

 of the Torah). The Lamentations are chanted by the leader and 



