The Westerbork camp operated under Nazi regime from 1939 to 1945. The site was used mainly as a transit camp to deport prisoners from the northeast Netherlands location to the east. However, a permanent community was kept at the camp, performing odd jobs and keeping up with maintenance of the site. These Westerbork “residents” were known to organize events and activities amongst themselves, in an effort to keep up morale, leading to a remarkable photo in the Yad Vashem archives. The picture, showing …More

In 1931, a woman snapped a photograph of her family’s menorah in a windowsill. It was the eighth night of Hanukkah and nine white candles stood along the candelabra, set off by the German courtyard seen through the glass of the window. Just in the distance, a Nazi flag hung. The image, freezing in time a notorious piece of the past, has grown to become an iconic part of history for the Jewish community. But until just recently, not much was known about the origins of the photo. Both the menorah and photo …More

A historic menorah, made from the headgear of a 19th century soldier, went on display in Jerusalem this week. The artifact is currently on view at the Museum of Italian Jewish Art and features the Hapsburg dynasty’s double-headed eagle emblem as well as the initials of a 1700’s-era emperor. The plates came from the ceremonial helmet of an Austro-Hungarian soldier, though the identity of the original owner is unknown. The menorah is thought to have been constructed sometime before 1835. The menorah …More

One menorah, two menorah, red menorah, blue menorah. It isn’t the start of a Yiddish Dr. Seuss poem--it’s a description of the Jewish Center of Princeton’s record-breaking Hanukkah lighting. The center played host last night to a massive gathering of congregants and menorahs, so large it had to be held in a hangar at the Princeton Airport. In total, guests brought in 834 candelabras, breaking the Guinness World Record for most lit menorahs in one location. The record was previously held by …More

There’s no Jewish Jigga. But we got oh-so-close during Jay-Z’s recent string of concerts in downtown Brooklyn, New York. To commemorate his eight homecoming shows at the new Barclays Center, Hova was looking for a menorah to mark each performance. But Hanukkah candles and a festive lampstand aren’t in abundance in the Carter household, so he turned to his entourage to locate one. The request finally trickled down to Brooklyn writer and Jay-Z fan Amit Wehle. The craziest part of the story: Whele …More

A Jewish student beaten by anti-Semitic assailants is recovering after surgery. [Boston.com] Do Mitt Romney's proposals lack Jewish values? [The Jewish Week] The story of a Jewish violin. [Huffington Post] Israeli shoes go upscale. [Tablet] Roger D. Fischer, a crucial player in the Camp David Accords, died Saturday at 90. [Tablet] Continued rocketfire hits southern Israel. [Times of Israel] An Egyptian professor says Israel will be gone by next year. [Times of Israel] A suspect is arrested in New …More

The Israel Museum will host an unusual holiday celebration on Sunday when domino toppling experts Nissim Lopez and Yogev Cohen construct the largest domino Hanukkah menorah of all time. The menorah will consist of 25,000 dominoes, making it eligible for entry into the Guinness Book of World Records, under the category of "largest domino menorah." …More

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and Chief of Staff Benny Gantz joined several members of the IDF's Ephraim Division in lighting the Menorah on the first night of Hanukkah.  …More

Infamous Jewish illustrator and writer Maurice Sendak is no exception to the trend that the twilight years are a time for reflection and memory. So it is no surprise that when the Jewish Museum in New York offered him the chance to curate a collection of Hanukkah lamps, his choices orbited themes of history, nostalgia and cultural memory. “An Artist Remembers: Hanukkah Lamps Selected by Maurice Sendak,” showing in a lost corner of the museum until January 29, is as stark an exhibit as the lamps Sendak …More

A menorah was put on permanent display at New South Wales Parliament House in Sydney. The menorah, donated in 2009 to the legislature by the Yeshiva Center, the headquarters of Chabad of New South Wales, had been kept in the speakers office and used annually at a Chanukah ceremony for all legislators at Parliament House. The silver candelabra was unveiled Aug. 11 in the presence of the president of the Legislative Council, Don Harwin; opposition leader John Robertson; and Parliament Speaker Shelley Hancock, who …More