Hanukkah begins tonight at sundown. Wishing all a Happy Festival of Lights!
Every great now and then, depending on the idiosyncratic inter-cyclings of the Hebrew (lunar) and Gregorian (solar) calendars, there may be two Hanukkahs in one calendar year. 2025 is such a rarity! Last year's Hanukkah ended on 2 January (2025) and this year's begins on 14 December (2025)—two Hanukkahs in 2025!
Even more strange (and more rare) is a year in which where there will be no Hanukkah at all. 3031 (more than a thousand years away) will be such a year with no Festival of Lights (although there will be two Hanukkahs in 3032). This has never happened before—at least not in the 16 centuries since the (modern) Hebrew calendar was "fixed and mathematized" by Hillel II around the year 359. These new rules for the Hebrew calendar included the addition of more "leap months" to help keep the Hebrew calendar in better alignment with the prevailing Gregorian calendar. And these last 1600+ years has not been enough time for such a rare quirk (as a year without Hanukkah) to occur.
The cast bronze menorah, shown above, was sculpted in the form of a windswept cypress tree. It would be lovely on the table for the holidays—and equally nice displayed on the mantelpiece during the rest of the year. If the candle holes are positioned above eye level, one might interpret this piece as a handsome, naturalistic, year 'round bronze sculpture. Click on the photo above to learn more about it.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
To arrange a visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only), please call 917-446-4248.