My story is about a small menorah, and those who listen carefully will surely discover that miracles happened not only during the Maccabees' time.
It was in Holland, we lit candles - my father in his menorah and my brother in his smaller menorah. Of course, we also told about the Maccabees and the history, of one of the first summits with the Maccabees. How do the few conquer the many? Why? What motivates them? We use to love Hanukkah and the menorahs of light - the light of freedom.
Now I will tell you about a difficult period - the outbreak of World War II. We have already passed more than fifty years since the outburst of this war. The Germans occupied the Netherlands. I won't tell you much about that period, only that we, me and my brother Max, had to leave the house. The house had wooden floorboards covered with a carpet. And there was an opening on the floor with a cover. The opening was quite large because it was used to get to the water pipe to fix it when needed. It was a place suitable for hiding. So, we took a box, and inside it, we packed some of our favorite things, including my brother's menorah (Hanukkiah for Hanukkah candles). That was the day we left our home for good. My brother Max and I. We left everything behind…
I will tell you only this about the war period.
There was a long period - not a war of days or weeks but a war of five years.
Years I have been to many places… At the end of the war, I was released but I did not return to the house, because there were others who lived there.
After quite a long time I went with my cousin to the that house we used to live in. We told the tenants the story of the box under the floor and... they let us in… to our great surprise the box was found as we left it, and inside it was Max Menorah... which to me is a real Hanukkah miracle. It's a miracle that I have the privilege of telling my children and grandchildren this story. We loved the menorah so much...
When everyone lights their menorah, the biggest miracle is that Max’s little menorah looks at all the other menorahs and joins our holiday every year.
By Miriam Bezek van Praagh, sister of Max who survived the war.
Translated from Hebrew - for children