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25 Kislev 5765 - December 8, 2004 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Home and Family

CREATIVITY CORNER
An Ancient and Inexpensive Chanukia

by Devora Piha

Not being one to repeat the same arts and crafts projects again, I tried to think of a Chanuka menora that I hadn't done before with children. This led me back to the basics, right back to the same type of clay pottery lamps used by our ancient forefathers.

The simplest and oldest of lamps that are known is a primitive forerunner of the developed pottery lamp. It is a simple scooped out stone with a hole at one end to hold a wick. This is very basic and interesting information. A stone or clay cup can hold oil and a wick and produce a very beautiful flame.

Clay, the easier of the two earthy materials to work with, can be shaped in endless ways, as seen from the variety of ancient examples found in Eretz Yisroel.

Clay oil lamps were household staples like light bulbs are for us today. Some lamps held four wicks. The ones designed for Chanuka menoras have cups or spaces for eight wicks plus the shammash.

Thinking about this more, I wondered why clay Chanukiyos are rarely seen [nor, for that matter, the "little dreidel, I made it out of clay..."] when children bring their Chanukiyos home from school. Nothing could be simpler or more satisfying to make. I did see one such oil lamp in a class where we were doing clay bowls. A young boy who came with his mother showed us how he learned to make a clay oil lamp for Chanuka. I was impressed and after a bit of experimenting, came up with several designs.

The simplicity of the clay Chanukiya is matched by the low cost. A `log' of real earth ceramic clay (not to be confused with synthetic clays which are expensive), costs about 13 shekels (about $3) and can make four to seven Chanukiyos. Considering the price of ready-made Chanukiyos or kits, this was very reasonable. Another plus is that it can be thrown away if desired, after final use, rather than cleaned up from the oil or wax.

Remaking one each year is not only enjoyable but therapeutic, since clay releases tensions. The clay seems to absorb away our tensions through our hands, arms and shoulders. While our hands are in the clay, we can imagine life in the times of the Mishna, and have a reprieve from modern day stresses and electronics and plastics.

In many households, it is customary for each member of the family to use his or her own lamp to kindle lights on the eight days of Chanuka, to give thanks and praise unto our Creator for the miracles He performed for us. A personal lamp is especially meaningful to little children who make it with their own hands and light it with their own hands. Placing the cotton wicks into the clay cups, each with its own supply of olive oil, is a real joy for any child or adult, as they watch the clear and clean flame of the menora go up.

The wicks will light even when the clay is wet, and produce a bright strong flame. You can form the little clay bowls and immediately fill and light them on each night if you like, rather than preparing a complete set at once. The menora can be baked in a ceramic kiln, but this is certainly not necessary. If baked, it will last a long time. If not, it has a short lifespan which saves clean-up time since it is discarded after Chanuka. Indeed, the Mishna Brura states that one should only use a clean menora.

The exciting part is that the flame lights just as well while the clay is still wet as it does when dry. This means that a child can make a cup in time before lighting and light it immediately while the clay is still wet. A proper use of instant gratification!

You can make eight or nine clay cups that are lightly pinched and pointed to one side to hold the wick. Line these up in a straight line and you have a Chanuka menora. Or you can build a thick base that has scooped out holes and troughs for the oil and wicks. Or make a set of cups and set them in place on the thick base. You can attach a decorative back to the base, if desired.

DIRECTIONS

Cups:

Make 8 or 9 cups from clay balls. Each cup is about 3-4 cm. x 3-4 cm. high. Make a ball about the size of a ping pong ball. Roll until smooth and round. Press a finger in center to make a hole that will hold one teaspoon of olive oil. Squeeze out a thick small bowl by pressing your thumb and index (first) finger gently around the walls of the cup. Be careful to keep the walls very thick so they will not crack off when dry. Pinch a crease slightly to hold up the wick at one end.

Base:

Make a base from a slab of clay that is 22-25 cm. long and 2 1/2 to 3 cm. thick. It should be long enough to hold eight cups. It can be shorter if you scoop out holes with troughs. Smooth with a bit of water if dry and trim with a plastic knife.

Place the base on a solid thick tray, heavy cardboard or styrofoam to keep stable and prevent breakage. Do not remove this reinforcement.

Back:

Backs are options. A back can be added to the base. It should be at least two cm. thick and six cm. high. Decorations can be engraved (drawn into the clay) or in relief (added on).

A menora, an olive branch with leaves and olives, a pair of birds or a Magen Dovid are well-known ancient Jewish designs that we can choose from.

Joining:

Joining the cups to the base or the base to the back requires a technique called `scoring.' Scoring is a ceramics term for preparing the surfaces to be joined. Make deep crosshatched lines on both surfaces to be joined and then wet the surfaces and apply a dab of very sticky gooey clay before joining the surfaces.

Press firmly in place and reinforce the outside edges by pushing the clay up and down until there is no clear line between the cup and the base or the base and the back. Sections that are not seemlessly joined together on all sides including what we don't see have a chance of coming apart. Test each joined part for resistance.

Lighting:

Place cotton or other type of cloth wicks and one teaspoon of olive oil in the cup or trough. Make sure the wick is well saturated with the oil and the top of the wick is upright. One teaspoon of oil will burn for about half an hour.

The children and the adults will have a memorable Chanuka, crafting and lighting a Chanuka menora that gives a bright golden flame along with its timeless message.

 

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