Two Shamoshim: The Spanish Personalization of Hanukkah in Post-Expulsion Aleppo
Tradition · haSepharadi
Two Shamoshim: The Spanish Personalization of Hanukkah in Post-Expulsion Aleppo
The Sephardic Jews who settled in Aleppo after the 1492 expulsion from Spain began lighting an extra candle each night of Hanukkah. Joseph Mosseri, historian of the Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn, explores why: to mark their own survival, to give thanks for their welcome in Aleppo, and perhaps to echo the prophet Zechariah's vision of the menorah.
