11 Oil Lamps

Command the children of Israel, and they will take for you pure pressed olive oil for lighting, to make an eternal lamp.

Leviticus 24

The olive oil of ancient Israel was prized for the beauty and purity of its light, and the subtle spiritual aura that radiated from it. For generations, olive oil illuminated both the Temples in Jerusalem, and was used for the Shabbat candles in Jewish homes, and Hanukkah lights in the dead of winter. In Jewish tradition, the light of candles is a symbol for the human soul.

The simple earthenware lamps in this photograph are typical of the lamps manufactured in great numbers throughout the Middle East and the Mediterranean basin during the Second Temple period. Although they held only a small volume of oil, their light burned steadily, casting a glowing circle disproportionate to their size. In the words of the Ba’al Shem Tov, founder of the Hasidic movement, “Even a small light dispels a great darkness.”