“The rabbis going back to Maimonides and earlier felt that the lights of the Hanukkah lamp were sacred,” and if you couldn’t afford a gold or silver lamp “you could use an egg shell, or a nut shell, or a potato carved out.” More →

December 7, 2012

“It is prescribed that you should put the lamp in your doorway,” says Susan Braunstein, curator of the Jewish Museum of New York, “so that the people walking on the street will see the lights and know that we are celebrating the miracle.” More →

December 7, 2012

Read excerpts from LUMINOUS ART: HANUKKAH MENORAHS OF THE JEWISH MUSEUM by Susan L. Braunstein and an excerpt about Hanukkah lights from THE BOOK OF CUSTOMS: A COMPLETE HANDBOOK FOR THE JEWISH YEAR by Scott-Martin Kosofsky. More →

December 3, 2004

Susan Braunstein, Curator of Archaeology and Judaica at the Jewish Museum of New York, explains the traditions of Hanukkah. More →

November 22, 2002