For thousands of Italians who live in the southern Italian
region of Calabria, the island of Sicily and the Aeolian Islands as well as for
many more Italian Americans and Italian Canadians, connecting family traditions
with an ancient Jewish heritage can be little more than a lucky guess. But as we continue to search for our
lost and hidden Jewish roots, one ritual item, the Shabbat candlelabra offers
an important clue.
The triple candlelabra pictured here is Rabbi Barbara
Aiello’s family heirloom. Her grandparents descended from a Calabrian
crypto-Jewish background where a three-branched candlelabra was integral for
the family Shabbat table.
“The middle candle served as the “shamus” or helping candle,
and just as Jews use the shamus to light the eight candles on the Chanukah
memorah, a shamus candle was used to light the two candles for Shabbat,” says
Rabbi Barbara, who now lives and works in Calabria where she searches for
hidden traditions such as these.
The peacock motif offers another Jewish clue. For the Jews
of Calabria, the peacock was an important element in Jewish design. Originating
with the Kabbalists, the Jewish mystics of medieval times, it is the male
peacock’s special feather configuration that is reminiscent of the Kabbalistic
“third eye.” This symbol connects
with the message of Shabbat by reminding us that with the “third eye” we can
see into a person’s soul and thus bring peace to the world.
Families in Serrastretta, the tiny village where Rabbi
Barbara organized “Ner Tamid del Sud, the first active synagogue in Calabria in
500 years since Inquisition times, recall the three branched candlelabra at
their own Friday evening dinner table.
Some recall a beautiful ritual where the matron of the house first lit
the middle “shamus” candle, removed it and then passed it to the youngest
family member. Each person around the table had her/his own personal candle
which was kindled by passing the shamus candle from person to person. Finally the shamus candle returned to
“Mama” who then kindled the last two candles, the lights of Shabbat.
Questions and comments welcome below!
