Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Wishing You A Dolly Chanukah

 A great Rabbi once remarked that “You cannot chase away darkness with a stick, you have to turn on the light.”  The way to eliminate darkness — to rid the world of ignorance, negativity, hatred and greed — is to kindle the lights of knowledge, generosity, hope and love.
I'm quite irreverent when it comes to religion but the origin and meaning of this holiday is beautiful.

I did a photoshoot last night using some doll sized menorahs and a full sized menorah. I hope you enjoy the photographs. If you want to read a little about Chanukah, see the links at the bottom of the post.




I did a Google search for Doll Menorahs which produced mostly menorahs having nothing to do with dolls. Off the top of my head, the only company that makes a menorah specifically for one of their dolls is the American Girl. The menorah at the back of the table in the above photo is an American Girl product. It came with the items in the picture below.
American Girl  - Discontinued Set
There is another, newer menorah set for sale. It is still available at the American Girl website for $22.  Here is a picture of the product.
American Girl - Rebecca's Hanukka Set
American Girl accessories are overscaled for your Fashion Royalty dolls and Silkstones. I like them anyway and who's to say that they don't have giant menorahs?
Have fun!

 The significance of Chanukah (also spelled Hanukkah) in our modern world is profound and beautiful and it is probably the best known Jewish holiday due to it's yearly proximity to Christmas. The Sanhedrin, a council or court of elders who met to answer questions of lawand all aspects of religious and political life in biblical times. It was established in 191 B.C.E. and continued although persecuted for almost 600 years.  In 358 C.E. Roman Emperor Theodosius disbanded the Sanhedrin and confiscated their property as a reaction to previous emperor Julian's pro-Jewish stance.

Hanukah, The Holiday of Lights  
Matisyahu: Light A Fire For Chanukah Music
Hanukkah