#but no menorah

[standardfarelife]

So, I went to Goodwill looking for a menorah (which I did not find) but I did find some of the most beautiful fabric

And a random flower (Magen David) hidden in a bag of doilies

Some of them feel incredible, that gold one is gorgeous but satiny so I'm afraid of sewing it for now 🫠

I think y'all will appreciate my new Shabbat candlesticks as well

[guardianspirits13]

Decided to redraw my Candle Girls from last holiday season, and a new friend of theirs that someone suggested I include- Kwanzaa!

Once again, happy candle month to all who celebrate!

[hailruth]

a hanukkiah bouquet . ݁₊᪥⋆. ݁

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

I bought the best Chanukiah today

[heywhatsupfolks]

I got this menorah for like $20 and it is STUNNING

[ljf613]

Alright, Chanukah starts tonight, which means it's time for me to finally make a post about different kinds of menorahs.

This right here? This is the Temple Menorah:

There's some debate over whether the branches were straight or curved, but here's a few things we do know:

It had seven branches of equal length.

It was made of one solid piece of gold

It was at least five feet tall.

It used pure olive oil.

The Temple Menorah is what people mean when they talk about The Menorah. It's what you'll see on historical or commemorative artifacts such as the Arch of Titus in Rome or Israeli currency:

During the time when the Temple stood in Jerusalem, the High Priest lit all seven flames on this Menorah every day (using the aforementioned pure olive oil):

No one lights this on Chanukah.

This is a Chanukah menorah:

There are countless variations, but here are the important things:

It has eight branches of equal length, plus a ninth "helper" branch, known as the shamash, which is set apart from the rest of the branches and used to light the others.

It can be made of any material.

It is usually used with wax candles or oil, but, if necessary, one can use anything that burns.

In Hebrew, this kind of menorah is called a chanukiah.

Some Chanukah menorahs, like the one shown above, have the shamash in the middle. Others have it on the side:

Regardless, this kind of menorah is the one that has been lit by Jews on Chanukah for thousands of years. It's the menorah you'll seen in photographs of Jewish households, including this famous picture taken in Germany in 1931:

(The message written on the back of the photo reads: "Death to Judah"/ So the flag says/ "Judah will live forever"/ So the light answers)

On Chanukah, whoever is lighting the menorah will first light the shamash, then the number of candles corresponding to whichever night of Chanukah it is. The first night, only the rightmost candle is lit, the second night the two rightmost, etc. (The newest candle is always lit first):

Again, a valid Chanukah menorah has eight branches of equal length, along with a shamash. There is no such thing as a Chanukah menorah with six branches of equal length and a longer seventh branch, and no valid Chanukah menorah has eight branches of completely different lengths.

If you see either of the above designs (or anything similar) on Chanukah-themed decor, it tells you the creator has absolutely no idea what they're doing and couldn't be bothered to do more than two seconds of research to make sure their product was accurate. Anyone who knows anything about the holiday will laugh at these. (They may buy them anyway, especially if that's all that's available-- my new Chanukah sweater has an invalid menorah pattern, but it's adorable, so I'm still going to wear it. But I am also laughing about it and invite you all to do the same.)

Anyway, have a happy Chanukah, everyone!

[arethosefangs]

Lighting the candles on the 4th night

Wanted to make something vampire themed this holiday

[jewreallythinkthat]

She is finished 🕎

[enbeemagical]

before I forget

so last year, I went into work and my coworker was wearing earrings. I was rather surprised, thinking she was wearing menorah earrings, because I didn't think she was Jewish

....she was not in fact wearing menorah earrings. they were moths. Anyways then I couldn't stop thinking about a moth menorah. a mothenorah, if you will. and I sketched one on my phone that day.

(ID: a very crude digital sketch of a moth menorah /end ID)

I kept meaning to redraw it, and finally I did! Behold: the Luna Mothenorah

ID: a pencil drawing of a luna moth menorah. The head holds the shamash, and the outstretched wings are level and hold the other eight candles, which alternate between white, blue, and yellow. The moth's wings are mostly pale green, with a brown spot on each wing, and the tails of the wings form the stand. /end ID

upgrade, no?

[kropotkindersurprise]

December 13, 2023 - A major highway in Los Angeles, USA, was blocked for 2.5 hours during rush hour by Jewish activists and allies with the organisation If Not Now.

The protesters were demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and an end to US funding for Israel's war crimes against the Palestinian people. The protesters, wearing T-shirts saying "Not in our name", formed a human chain across the highway and erected a 7-foot tall menorah in the road. According to police 75 activists were arrested. [video]

[notaplaceofhonour]

menorah means lamp. the 7-branch lamp used in the temple and the 9-branch lamp used on hanukkah are both menorot. one we call temple menorah, the other we call hanukkiah. both we can call menorah.

[sixbucks]

I did not know that a menorah can also be a weenie dog.

[koshercosplay]

last year I posted The Great Latke Debate poll which was applesauce vs sour cream and it ended up with an even split (typical) so this year may I present to you The Great Lights Debate

[mtkmsp]

THE RETURN OF COVID Horror/thriller movie style!! I don't think I could find enough words to express how much I love doing those posters............ For this one, I felt like the cast of "antagonists" of the movie would make for a pretty awesome composition and mood, and paired with the church setting I think I got something pretty interesting, haha. More below!

As it happens, a fandom friend asked if I could maybe some day record my process, and therefore I did! (and went the extra mile adding goofy horror songs to it...) Check it out if you're interested :)

I've detailed it in the YT vid description as well, but my process is rather straightforward. I tend to be a "lazy person" in that I like to, ideally, spend the least time possible on anything, and so far this process is how I've best achieved that while still managing some rather complex pieces. I like to be extremely rough with my sketches and prioritize dynamism and composition, and I usually take my time repositioning the characters until I'm satisfied before I go any further. I don't have the best mental visualization so I usually try to have a very rough idea of what I want before I directly jump to sketching and mostly ideate there. The lineart is very straightforward as well. I come back later to adjust line thickness here and there but otherwise I just "trust my brush". The fake fisheye perspective is entirely wrong and made up so I needed some custom perspective lines to know roughly how to position the background elements.

I do come back with composition guides after I'm done with the lineart, just to check how the illustration is doing. I prefer not to use them at first because it tends to "constrain" me a bit too much, and I like to remain very free as to maintain a feeling of spontaneity, which is why I will only fix the composition afterwards (when I do). Coloring is then fairly streamlined, with background colors/atmosphere guiding the overall color scheme followed by character coloring and additional details. The most fun part comes with the post-processing, where I go wild with additional fog and light shaft layers to add depth to the entire thing. I use a bunch of additional tone curve layers to adjust the colors and make it more uniform, as well as one blurred, flattened copy of the illustration with strengthened contrasts, in overlay mode, to add some vibrance, and a noise layer for texture. That's it! Thanks for watching, for those interested :))

[gifs-of-puppets]

Happy Hanukkah!

[hiddurmitzvah]

I made prints on colored papers and I love them a lot!

The symbols are from the collection I created during my research of the SchUM region, they are from tombstones and synagogues of Speyer, Worms and Mainz.