There is a theory that the stone with the carving once belonged to another building; this argument has been used to suggest that it is a Christian symbol, not a Jewish one.
By MARION FISCHELThe Engraving of the hanukkia(photo credit: CONCHA JAMBRINA LEAL)
As one enters the church of San Idelfonso in Zamora there is a carving on a mason’s stone to the left, depicting a hanukkia. Thus, the carving, discovered in 2008, is on the right when one exits, which would fit in with the mitzva to publicize the festival of Hanukka by placing the hanukkia close to a building’s entrance, on the side opposite the mezuza – traditionally placed on the right doorpost as one enters a building.The bottom part of this hanukkia consists of a large cross with smaller crosses attached to it.There is a theory that the stone with the carving once belonged to another building. Some hold that when it was used in the building of this church, the carving was placed upside down, and that what is today supposed to be the nine branches of a hanukkia is in fact just the design of the cross’s base.This argument has been used to suggest that it is a Christian symbol, not a Jewish one.After last summer’s conference and the heightened awareness of Jewish remnants and crypto-Judaism in Zamora, however, it is clear that such a cross – if it is one – is a converso or New Christian cross, with its extra crosses and its base a mound (Mount Sinai).This would also have been one way of hiding a hanukkia – by drawing it upside-down.
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