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Podcast: North Star with Ellin Bessner
Episode: The real story behind Canada Post’s new Hanukkah stamp starring Montreal’s peacock-shaped hanukkiah
Description: An estimated 360,000 Canadian holiday postage stamps depicting a rare, ornate Hanukkah menorah (hanukkiah lamp) rescued from the Holocaust, are among the latest casualties of the weeks-old strike by Canada Post workers.
It was a two-year effort to showcase the silver-plated hanukkiah in the shape of a peacock. The post office worked with Montreal Rabbi Lisa Gruschow of Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom and volunteer curators at her shul’s small Jewish museum. They urged the agency to select an actual piece of Judaica to grace the 2024 annual holiday stamp, rather than stylized graphics used during the previous six years’ editions.
The cere...