During World War I, the Heidelberger family of Flehingen, Germany, celebrated Hanukkah using a simple menorah of thinly pounded tin. It was made by another member of their tight-knit, middle-class Jewish community and given to the family while the patriarch, Samuel Heidelberger, fought on the front lines for Germany. Candles were scarce, but oil and cotton for wicks were available: their lamp had two tiers of eight shallow oil cups. If needed, two families could use it at once. When Samuel returned and the Great War ended, the family continued to use this lamp each Hanukkah. As the Third Reich bore down on Europe’s Jews, the lamp would follow the movements of its owners in exile, becoming a witness to—and an embodiment of—an ingenious and inextinguishable commitment to Jewish ritual.
About the Speaker:
Sara Softness is Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, where she oversees the stewardship of the Museum’s permanent collection and its exhibition program. She recently organized the Museum’s exhibitions Art of Freedom: The Life and Work of Arthur Szyk, Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark, and Boris Lurie: Nothing To Do But To Try. With an interdisciplinary background in European cultural and intellectual history, she has previously held curatorial roles at the Guggenheim Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Beinecke Library at Yale University. She writes and lectures on Jewish art history and visual artists referencing the Holocaust. She holds a Master’s degree from Yale in European and Russian Studies and a BA (summa cum laude) from Amherst College.