The real story behind Canada Post’s new Hanukkah stamp starring Montreal’s peacock-shaped hanukkiah

An estimated 360,000 Canadian holiday postage stamps depicting a rare, ornate Hanukkah menorah (hanukkiah lamp) rescued from the Holocaust, are among the latest casualties of the weeks-old strike by Canada Post workers. It was a two-year effort to showcase the silver-plated hanukkiah in the shape of a peacock. The post office worked with Montreal Rabbi Lisa Gruschow of Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom and volunteer curators at her shul’s small Jewish museum. They urged the agency to select an actual piece of Judaica to grace the 2024 annual holiday stamp, rather than stylized graphics used during the previous six years’ editions. The ceremonial candle holder was produced in the 1800s likely in Poland, made its way to Austria, and somehow survived the Nazis’ Kristallnacht destruction of synagogues and homes on Nov. 9, 1938. While traces of its owners have long been lost, we know the Allies later rescued the holiday centrepiece from Nazi storerooms after the Holocaust, and it made its way to Canada after the war, where it has been part of the collection at the shul's museum for about 70 years. As Jews prepare to mark the second Hanukkah after Oct. 7, with exploding antisemitism in Canada and around the world, the team behind this year’s official stamp hope their unusually-designed hanukkiah will serve as a message of light and resilience during these dark times. (And since these are permanent stamps, you can purchase them now at some post offices, and use them anytime during the year.) On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, host Ellin Bessner went to see the real deal itself and hear the back story, with Rabbi Lisa Gruschow, and museum volunteers Louis Charbonneau and Monika Simon.

Related links

• Read more about the 2024 stamp.
• Why the small Quebec town called Disraeli loves canceling your Hanukkah mail, in The CJN.
• How Israel’s postal service got the stag logo, from Treasure Trove’s David Matlow, in The CJN.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

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