lifestyle
Published December 13, 2023, 3:13 pm ET
A miracle menorah that has become a symbol of Jewish perseverance has found its way to the front lines of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The historical piece is famous for an iconic 1931 photo of Rachel Posner, a Jewish mother of three who lived in Kiel, Germany.
The defiant snapshot shows the menorah on a windowsill, all eight candles burning, while an NSDAP flag waves menacingly outside.
On Sunday, December 10, the fourth day of Hanukkah, Posner's great-grandson Raziel Gilo, a 35-year-old Israeli Defense Force reservist, brought the menorah to the Gaza border to inspire his unit.
“We face a brutal and terrible enemy that wants to destroy Israel,” Gilo told The Post. “This enemy does not separate a religious Jew from a non-religious Jew. They want to kill every Jew because he or she is a Jew – just like the Nazis tried.”
His great-grandmother Rachel lived with her husband, a rabbi, and three small children opposite the Nazi headquarters in Kiel and was forced to flee Germany in 1933.
Jewish mother Rachel Posner took this photo on the last day of Hanukkah in 1931 at her home – across from the Nazi headquarters – in Kiel, Germany. Yad Vashem Photo Archive Posner's grandson Raziel displayed the menorah and photo at an IDF base December 10, the fourth day of Hanukkah 2023. Courtesy of Raziel Gil
They arrived in Palestine during Hanukkah in 1934 – and escaped persecution with the simple brass menorah in tow and Rachel's photograph.
On the back of the photo she wrote what her granddaughter Nava Gilo now describes as “prophetic” remarks: “Death to Judah – that's what the flag says / Judah will live forever – so the light answers.”
Since Posner sent the image to a museum in Kiel in 1974, it has become an iconic symbol. Dani Dayan, Israel's former consul general in New York and current chairman of Yad Vashem – Israel's Holocaust memorial – previously told The Post that he posts the photo of the menorah on his social media channels every Hanukkah.
The Posner family menorah is now on display at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel. Yad Vashem Photo Archive On the back of the photo, Rachel Posner wrote: “Death to Judah – that’s what it says on the flag / Judah will live forever – that’s what the light answers.” Yad Vashem Photo Archive
Last year, Nava, who lives in the central Israeli city of Rehovot, and her brother Yehuda Mansbach brought the menorah to Germany for the first time in nearly 90 years and met with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin to light it on the second day of Hanukkah.
It is normally displayed at Yad Vashem, except on Hanukkah, when the Posner family brings it to one of their homes and Mansbach takes it to Israeli schools to share “our important story and message” with children, Nava said. “It’s very important that it doesn’t get stuck in my generation.”
Rabbi Dr. Akiva Posner, his wife Rachel and their three children: (from left) Shulamit, Tova and Avraham Chaim, at the train station in Kiel upon departure from Germany in 1933. Yad Vashem photo archive
“The difference from last Hanukkah is amazing [and this year]Nava said. “This Hanukkah festival takes on a new dimension to history. The war reminds us that we still have a long way to go, but we must approach it with our heads held high and with great faith. As my grandmother wrote, 'Judah will live forever.'”
This year, Nava's son Raziel, a rabbi in his unit, asked to take the menorah with him to a base near the Gaza border, where he pulled the treasured family memento from his backpack on Sunday and told the story of its survival.
“To continue our human life, we must destroy evil. We cannot accept it or swallow it – we must destroy evil,” Raziel, who lives in Lod, told his troops as he lit the candles. “These days we see it so clearly that if we do not win, the darkness will consume us. But that won't happen. We are here because previous generations fought against evil, and we will win…
In 2022, Posner's grandson Yehuda Mansbach (right) brought the menorah from Israel back to Germany, where he lit it in front of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and First Lady Elke Büdenbender. Federal Government / Sandra Steins
“This is a long-standing war between the forces of light and the forces of darkness [we] Believe that the day will come when the light will definitely prevail. This is the meaning of the little light of the Hanukkah candle…My grandmother saw two things: first, that the candle will win, and second, the eternity of Israel.”
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