Customer Reviews

The Ugly Menorah

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This gently written Hannukah story is a lesson in what is really beautiful. Rachel visits her grandmother and comments on an old, obviously hand made menorah made of odds and ends. She thinks it is ugly and tells her grandmother that.

Rachel's grandmother, a wise and articulate woman tells Rachel that she just needs to understand the story behind that menorah. She described her life as a young wife during the Depression Years when money was hard to come by. She saw a beautiful, very ornate menorah in a shop window and wanted it. Unable to afford it, her husband went into his shop, and, using assorted scraps around the place built a makeshift menorah. That way, they could celebrate the ancient, wonderful traditions together with something he had made.

Rachel is understandably moved by the menorah's history. She decides it is beautiful because it was made by love. When her mother comes to pick her up and comments on how ugly she thinks the menorah is, Rachel tells her it is NOT ugly, it is beautiful!

Rachel was right. It really was beautiful, just like this story.

Over the eight days of Hanukkah, there's ample time to sneak this book into your child's bedtime readings. It is lovely tale that teaches that beauty can be found in the most simple things. Reinforcing the idea of Hanukkah, that spiritual items, though they may look mundane, have greater power and beauty than a more Hellenistic idea of artistic beauty.