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Group Writing: How to Make Your Very Own Chanukiah
A couple of years ago I was inspired by @iwe to construct a chanukiah (menorah for Chanukah) for our front yard, and I did a post this past year on our finished product (since my husband and I made it—well, he mostly made it!) I thought for this topic it would be fun to tell you how we put it together and came out with a product about which we are rightly proud.
When I first told my husband I wanted to make a Chanukiah, he grumbled. He assumed that he’d be stuck with all the work, as I adoringly watched him make it as knitted in my favorite chair. Not true! I told him that I wanted to be involved in the whole process from beginning to end, to which he said he needed a model or design to work from. Oh sure, there are lots of patterns of menorahs on the internet.
So I took the photo of @iwe’s beautiful Chanukiah, traced the form onto a blank piece of paper; I stretched my arms to the sky and out to the side to show my husband how big I wanted it to be. Then I asked him if he could scale it for our yard. He couldn’t resist that little challenge and came up with a design. Although our final product turned out a bit different, it still was an excellent draft. Meanwhile, my husband’s brother thought it would be fun to work on the project, except he was in the middle of moving and selling houses, so I re-enlisted myself.
Before we went to Lowe’s, Jerry was pondering how he could wire the candles. (The idea of diesel fuel in bottles to make candles didn’t appeal to either of us.) Suddenly, the light bulb went off, or I should say the candle was lit! I suggested that we buy battery-run candles! Okay, so it’s not the same as lighting a candle and letting it burn down, but it was OSHA-compliant. Plus, those candles made the job very simple and safe.
Next, we wandered up and down the aisles of Lowe’s. Jerry suggested we use PVC pipe, because it would be lightweight and fittings were available for the support angles. We collected thin pipes, wide pipes, brackets, and a thingy that made a joint for each arm of the menorah. We bought almost everything on our first trip, making slight modifications to our original plan because we couldn’t find the parts we wanted. (So what if it was a little taller or narrower?) Jerry also recommended a bright royal blue spray paint since blue was one color of Israel’s flag.
Only a few days later, we began the project in the garage. It was clear pretty quickly that my contributions would be limited. I couldn’t hold the drill in place on the slippery PVC. Since the PVC seemed to have a mind of its own at times, I was in charge of taming the PVC piping to the floor (we didn’t use a vice) so that Jerry could drill. I charmed that pipe into submission pretty darn well.
As we could also have guessed with this type of project, things didn’t always match up perfectly, but we became experts at subtle fudging—you’d never notice a thing!
Then there were the candles. We found some sturdy styrofoam (the environmentalists would have probably hanged us) and cut it into little blocks to simulate the candle bodies, then gouged a little hole out of the top of each one and placed a battery-operated candle in the top of each styrofoam piece. Jerry even thought to put a slight gash in each candle in case of rain, so that the water could run out.
When it was all put together, it was a true work of art! We still had to paint it but we didn’t end up doing it. Jerry took one look at how I handled the spray can and wrested it from my grip. (Well, actually, he kindly said he thought he should do it; I think he was afraid I’d never finish it at the rate I was working, and/or would wind up painting the neighbors’ homes or windows with the overspray.)
In order to finally stand the menorah where we wanted it, we dug a hole and placed a larger piece of PVC pipe in the ground; we also created a lid to cover the supporting PVC when the menorah wasn’t in place. Hey, this was a first-class operation! (We won’t discuss the problems we had creating the hole, breaking through hard clay and rock, but we did overcome them.)
And voila! It was the talk of Solivita! Each night I’d take the remote control for turning the candles on and off (oh yes, this was a high-end act), and lighted the appropriate number of candles. Of course, they weren’t going to “burn down” so at bedtime Jerry would turn the candles off and bring them in. (I was too short to remove “the flames” without a step stool.)
I told him when we finished it that the Jewish people in the community would be clamoring for him to make one for them! Uh- uh, was his response, I trained you, don’t look at me. You were the inspiration behind it.
Uh, no, I replied. It was great fun to do—once. Besides, no one asked us to make one. It’s lovingly stored in the garage in anticipation of next Chanukah.
until next Chanukah
And if anyone is wondering how we worked together as husband and wife, it was easy! He was clearly the master and I was the apprentice; he just told me what he needed me to do.
I take orders well.
Addendum: As an engineer, Jerry would have included much more detail than I have written here. So if you have questions, I’ll either answer them or pass them on. He’d be delighted to tell you more!
Published in Group Writing
So, Jerry said, “Sit on it, Susan!” ?
He probably thought it a few times!
Lovely!
When I was a kid Coral Gables FL most of my playmates were Jewish. Some of those families were conspicuously observant but there was nothing other than a menorah visible through a window that I can recall. Never anything on the lawn. A couple of my friends had a crazy uncle we enjoyed visiting to hear him shout his theories about everything. Even though Jewish, he always had one of the larger Christmas light displays in the neighborhood because he just knew that Christmas decorations were merely a sneaky way of identifying the houses with Jews and he wasn’t falling for that.
Those childhood events took place only a decade after the Holocaust. I think with the passage of time, the decline of prejudices of many kinds and the smashing victories of Israel in ’67 and ’73, Jews have a little more confidence in openly celebrating their heritage–and maybe a little swagger. Younger generations of Jews probably don’t fully appreciate how different that is.
I think you are correct, @oldbathos. They not only do not realize how different these times are, but it’s possible they don’t even know about the Holocaust.
So much better than so many of the store-bought yard decorations we see that time of year.
This conversation is part of our Group Writing Series under the February 2019 Theme Writing: How Do You Make That? There are plenty of dates still available. Tell us about anything from knitting a sweater to building a mega-structure. Share your proudest success or most memorable failure (how not to make that). Do you agree with Arahants’ General Theory of Creativity? “Mostly it was knowing a few techniques, having the right tools, and having a love for building and creating whatever it was.” Our schedule and sign-up sheet awaits.
I will post March’s theme mid month.
Fun to read!
You should repost this around Hanukkah next year!