Happy Hanukkah! To celebrate the Jewish holiday which is upon us, I'm featuring the The Hanukkah Lamp by Mordechia Narkiss (Jerusalem, 1939, Judaica). This extremely rare book represents one of the first attempts to describe this traditional Jewish ritual from an artistic viewpoint.
Mordechai Narkiss was employed by the Bezalel Jerusalem School of Art. Narkiss filled this rare book with photographs of ancient menorahs. Only 400 copies were said to be printed. And, as you might imagine, the book is highly sought after by collectors of menorahs, the Hebrew word roughly translated as The Hanukkah lamp.
