For Hanukkah, Jewish Tennesseans share the stories behind their menorahs

Modern, traditional, whimsical, simple. The personal meaning that Hanukkah menorahs carry for those who light them each year can be as varied as their appearances.

The stories behind these nine-branched candelabras used to celebrate the 8-day Jewish festival of lights can be as poignant as they are fun. 

Hanukkah, which commemorates the Maccabees' rededication of the Temple after their victory over the Syrians, starts at sundown Sunday and continues through Dec. 10. 

That means many Jewish Tennesseans are setting up their favorite menorahs in their homes to mark the holiday and being reminded of the individual memories these ancient Jewish symbols hold.  

Holiday history:When is Hanukkah and what does the holiday celebrate?

A menorah handed down from mother to daughter to granddaughter

Claire Coleman lights a petite, gold menorah every year at her home in Brentwood.

The simple candelabra once belonged to her grandmother, who gave it to her mother when she moved out of her house. Years later, Coleman's mother passed it to her as she headed off for college.

"It’s not particularly fancy or valuable, but my mother died seven years ago and it’s one of my best memories of her," Coleman said. "I remember her every year when I take it out of storage and prepare it for Hanukkah."

Dinosaurs and door knobs? Can you really make a menorah out of that?

Miriam Leibowitz, who has a fine arts background, created her own menorah out door knobs and a mirrored vanity tray she picked up from a flea market in Nashville. That is the one she will be lighting again this year. 

"It was really beautiful just the way the candles reflected in the tray," Leibowitz said. "It was kind of a fun puzzle because not everything fit together exactly the way I wanted it to." 

It is not the first menorah Leibowitz has made.

"I'm not afraid to use unusual things to make something that's familiar."   

A couple of years back, she transformed plastic dinosaurs into menorahs.

"I was really broke and I was trying to think of what I could afford to give my youngest niece and nephews for Hanukkah that would be meaningful but also fun," Leibowitz said.  

Public menorahs:From public square to the Liberty Bell, how lighting public menorahs became a part of Hanukkah

The memory of a husband and his artistic talent

The menorah Mary Linda Schwarzbart lights every year was made by her late husband, Arnold Schwarzbart, whose Judaic art is nationally renowned.  

"The one I light happens to be one that was the result of a bad glaze mix that we didn't know was bad until we read about it months later," she said. "But I like it because it's more interesting."

The Knoxville couple met as children at the synagogue their families attended. They were married for just shy of 51 years when Arnold Schwarzbart died in 2015. Mary Linda Schwarzbart thinks of her late husband every day.  

"I live in a house that he designed ... I'm surrounded by things that he created and his talent," Mary Linda Schwarzbart said. "It makes me happy to light a menorah that he created."

Cheers to that: Mixing craft beer and Hanukkah

Matt Leff takes a sudsy approach to Hanukkah by marking each night of the holiday with a different beer and sharing a photo of it on social media.

"I'll pick a beer each day," Leff said. "I'll pour it in a glass and take a photo of it in front of one of my menorahs." 

Leff's malty holiday observance makes sense for him. He loves beer and owns Rhizome Productions, the Nashville-based company that produces craft beer and food events, like the East Nashville Beer Festival and Brew at the Zoo. 

"I think it's just fun. It's a way to tie my passion for beer and the business I have and tie that into who I am as an individual," Leff said. "I think people really like it." 

A mother's gift helps young woman start her own Jewish home

When Julia Motis graduated from college and decided to move to Nashville, her mother gave her the menorah she now lights during Hanukkah.

The gift helped Motis start her own Jewish home in her new city.

"She found a modern-looking one that is mostly made of glass, which is very fitting for a young adult who is carrying on ancient traditions while exploring new and different ways to practice Judaism that move away from the traditional," Motis said.  

Candle lighting has always been a big part of her family’s Hanukkah traditions. While she is thrilled to have a menorah that is just hers, lighting it in her own home makes her feel closer to parents and sister.   

"It's a way for me to feel connected to my family on the holiday as I often don't get to be with them during it," Motis said. "It's a way for me to continue on the important tradition of lighting candles on Hanukkah."

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Reach Holly Meyer at hmeyer@tennessean.com or 615-259-8241 and on Twitter @HollyAMeyer.