726 PROCHEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. VOL. XXXIV. 
with the lulab and ethrog around the reading desk (as was done in 
the Temple around the altar) on which the Torah seroll is held in 
an upright position, while reciting the prayers, beginning and clos- 
ing with the invocation “ Hosanna.” On the seventh day seven 
such processions take place, and willow branches are beaten on the 
benches, and this day is therefore called oshanna Rabba, the day of 
the great Hosanna. Length of the lulab, 4 feet 7 inches; height of 
silver box, 6 inches; diameters, 3 and 21 inches. (Plate XCIV, Cat. 
Nos. 3636 and 3687, U.S.N.M.) 
109. Lunas anp Eruroc. (Cat. No. 154448, U.S.N.M.) 
Gift of Mr. David Sulzberger. 
110. LuLas anp Eruroe In a Guass cur. Cat. Nos. 3687 and 3637, 
U.S.N.M.) : 
Lent by Hadji Ephraim Benguiat. 
111. LuLas anp Ermroc. Cat.. Nos. 4567 and 3710, U.S.N.M.) 
Lent by Hadji Ephraim Benguiat. 
THE FEAST OF HANUKAH (DEDICATION). 
112. Hanuxan Lamp.—Made of copper, probably of Dutch origin. 
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 iusti- 
tution of this festival is related in I Maccabees iv, 47-59. In the 
New Testament (John x, 22) it is mentioned under the name of 
eycatvia (enkainia), “ dedication.” The principal feature in the ob- 
servance of this festival is the hghting of lights in the synagogue, 
as well as in private houses, whence it is also called the “ feast of 
lights.” (Compare Josephus, Antiquities, xu, 7, 7.) 
On the first night one hght is lit, on the second two, and so on to 
the eighth. The hghts are set in a place where people on the street 
may see them, in the window or by 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 hghting 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 light the per- 
petual 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 olive oil are to be used, though fre- 
quently candles made of pure beeswax are employed. In the syna- 
