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Hanukkah Hanukiah
--> Ceramic Menorahs |
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Judaic
Online store that provides a wide selection of all types of
Menorahs, Judaica, Jewish gifts, Jewish books, Kittels, Jewish
ritual items and much more ....
www.judaic.com
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Historical sources
The story of Hanukkah, along with its
laws and customs, is entirely missing from the Mishna outside of a
single passing reference, (Megillah 3:6).[5] Rav Nissim Gaon
postulates in his Hakdamah Le'mafteach Hatalmud that information on
the holiday is commonplace to the point that Rabbinical explanation is
unnecessary. Reuvain Margolies suggests that as the Mishnah was
redacted after the Bar Kochba revolt, authors could not have included
discussion of Hanukkah as the Roman occupiers would not have tolerated
the overt nationalism inherent in the story.
In the Talmud
The miracle of Hanukkah is described in the Talmud. The Gemara, in
tractate Shabbat 21, focuses on Shabbat candles and moves to Hanukkah
candles and says that after the forces of Antiochus IV had been driven
from the Temple, the Maccabees discovered that almost all of the
ritual olive oil had been profaned. They found only a single container
that was still sealed by the High Priest, with enough oil to keep the
menorah in the Temple lit for a single day. They used this, and
miraculously, that oil burned for eight days (the time it took to have
new oil pressed and made ready).[6]
The Talmud presents three options:
1. The law requires only one light each night per household,
2. A better practice is to light one light each night for each member
of the household
3. The most preferred practise is to vary the number of lights each
night.
Except in times of danger, the lights were to be placed outside one's
door or in the window closest to the street. Rashi, in a note to
Shabbat 21b, says their purpose is to publicize the miracle.
Hanukkah: The story |
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A ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic solid prepared
by the action of heat and subsequent cooling.[1] Ceramic materials may
have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be
amorphous (e.g., a glass). Because most common ceramics are
crystalline, the definition of ceramic is often restricted to
inorganic crystalline materials, as opposed to the non-crystalline
glasses.
The earliest ceramics were pottery objects made from clay, either by
itself or mixed with other materials. Ceramics now includes domestic,
industrial and building products and art objects. In the 20th century
new ceramic materials were developed for use in advanced ceramic
engineering, for example, in semiconductors.
The word ceramic comes from the Greek word κεραμικός (keramikos)
meaning pottery, which is said to derive from the Indo-European word
ker, meaning heat.[2][3] Ceramic may be used as an adjective
describing a material, product or process; or as a singular noun, or,
more commonly, as a plural noun, ceramics. |
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Kosher Wines for Hanukkah |
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