Tale of the Menorah:\" Second-To-Last

¶ … Tale of the Menorah:" Second-to-last paragraph analysis

"The Tale of the Menorah" illustrates the complex relationship between Eastern European Jews and gentile civil authorities. On one hand, the Jews are a homeless, fragile, and persecuted people who live only because of the good will of their gentile rules: they can be exiled, persecuted, and murdered in pogroms at any time. Yet the nature of the God of Israel and the Jewish faith is eternal. This is symbolized by the gaudy and religiously questionable menorah given by the king to a wise rabbi, in exchange for the rabbi's service. Eventually, the Jews strip the menorah of its earthly trappings that associate it with kingly, contested rule and use it to symbolize their own faith and indomitable nature. [Thesis]

Symbolism:

At the beginning of the story, the king of the land (significantly, a nameless king, as his name does not really matter) commands his metalworkers to make a forbidden replica of the Holy Temple's menorah. He does so to honor a rabbi who gave him wise advice, but the menorah comes to symbolize the Jewish people's indebtedness to the gentile king and gentile rule. The Jews eventually decide to remove the middle branch of the menorah, to make it conform to the dictates of their religious tradition. When the regime grows hostile and the Jews are persecuted and must flee, the menorah is cast into the river. After the Jews return to their synagogue and the menorah is found, the reason for the removal of the middle branch is forgotten. It is assumed that the menorah is broken, symbolizing how exile has caused the Jews to forget their history. To protect themselves through political diplomacy, the new Jewish community adds a leaded brass eagle to the middle of the menorah, as a sign of allegiance to Poland.

Plot as it relates to paragraph:

The choice of lead for the eagle, the opposite of true, valuable gold, shows the falseness of the idol the Jews have created in the menorah. The false nature of human further rule is underlined when Poland is conquered by Austria. The Jews easily change the menorah to suit their new rulers, changing the white Polish eagle to an Austrian eagle with two heads, and use the lead to make toys for children (dreidles). When the Austrian eagle is smashed after the Poles revolt, its brass is used to make dice, although another eagle is soon made to replace it. During World War I, the eagle is hidden, and only later found by a metalworker.

Quotation: Second to last paragraph

At the end of the story, the symbolism of the menorah is confirmed: "They removed the menorah and brought it to the Great Synagogue, where they stood it on the reading table where the menorah had once stood. And so the menorah stood on the reading table, as it had in earlier days when peace was in the land. "Now I will cut off the bird with the two heads, because Austria has ceased to rule over Buczacz. And if there are young boys in town, I will make dreidels from the brass eagle for them to play during Hanukah, just as our grandfathers did for our fathers" (252). The return of the Jews and the menorah, which is now 'properly' maimed of its extra branch and stripped of transient national associations, symbolizes the return of the Jews to their homeland and the restoration of an imperfect temple in the world of the gentiles. The brass (another inferior metal) will be used to make toys that children use to commemorate the nationalistic miracle the menorah was designed to celebrate, during the original celebration of the Festival of Lights.