Canada Post Nov. 14 Hanukkah stamp features artifact recovered from Nazi Germany

By David Hartwig

On Nov. 14 Canada Post issued a permanent-rate (currently 99¢) stamp commemorating the annual Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

The stamp design features a hanukkiah candelabrum believed to have been rescued from a burning synagogue during the widespread anti-Semitic violence conducted by Germany’s Nazi government in November 1938.

The Aron Museum at Montreal’s Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom now houses the hanukkiah. The museum received the hanukkiah following the aftermath of World War II, during which vast amounts of Jewish cultural and religious items were recovered by military authorities, Louis Charbonneau of the Aron Museum said.

The peacock-themed hanukkiah features eight candles symbolizing the eight nights of the holiday, plus one candle, called a shamash, that is used to light the other eight. “When the candles are lit, the flames illuminate the incredible detail in the tail feathers,” Charbonneau said. “The whole bird glows. It’s just breathtaking.”

Rabbi Lisa Grushcow of Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom said: “The peacock’s beauty perfectly reflects the Jewish value of performing mitzvot – acts of empathy and kindness – in a beautiful way. Its form helps shine the light and thus helps share and publicize the miracle at the heart of Hanukkah.”

Hanukkah, taking place this year from nightfall Dec. 25 to nightfall Jan. 2, celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the second century B.C., following the successful revolt of the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire.

The lighting of the menorah during the eight-day celebration commemorates the miracle of a single day’s supply of oil lasting for eight days in the rededicated temple.

The Hanukkah stamp was designed by Subplot Design Inc using a photograph from Matthew Liteplo. Colour Innovations printed the stamps by lithography in 11 colors in a quantity of 60,000 booklets of six (product no. 414273111). The stamps measure 32 millimeters on all four sides.

A total of 4,000 Hanukkah FDCs (414273131) were produced. The FDCs have a Westmount, Quebec, pictorial first-day postmark.

The new Hanukkah stamp and FDC are available from Canada Post’s website. At the time of publication, some features on the Canada Post website are not available due to a national strike of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

The stamps are also available by mail order from Canada Post Customer Service, Box 90022, 2701 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, ON K1V 1J8 Canada; or by telephone from the United States or Canada at 800-565-4362, and from other countries at 902-863-6550.

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