This evening the festival of Hanukkah begins—a timely celebration of a Jewish military victory in the 2nd century BCE. The menorah, the object most associated with the holiday, is also one of the most ancient of Jewish symbols. In conversation with Nachi Weinstein, Steven Fine explains the history of the menorah in Jewish art, its etymology, the origins of the longstanding (and thoroughly debunked) myth that the Second Temple menorah is in the Vatican, and the debate over whether a menorah’s branches should be diagonal (as claimed by the late rebbe of Lubavitch) or curved. (Audio, 75 minutes.)
Read more on Seforim Chatter: https://seforimchatter.com/2023/12/03/with-prof-steven-fine-discussing-the-menorah/