2019-10-10 Thu

Canada Post introduced a stamp recognizing Hanukkah in November 2017.

Hanukkah is the Jewish faith’s eight-day celebration also known as the Festival of Lights. Hanukkah begins on the 25th day of Kislev, the ninth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, Judaism’s holiest site, in the second century BCE.

The Temple menorah (a seven-branched candelabrum) was supposed to stay lit at all times. However, there was only enough oil to last one day, and it would take eight days to harvest and press the olives, and transport the oil to replenish the supply. Miraculously, that small amount burned for the next eight days, which is why the kindling of a menorah, adding a light each day, is central to the eight-day Hanukkah celebrations.

The stamp shows the menorah in the geometric pattern in different shades of blue resembling the national flag of Israel. The geometric pattern of the stamp represents the different types of the menorah and the strong contrast between light and dark tones creates the illusion of flickering flames.

Image Courtesy: https://www.linns.com

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