This American Sephardic hanukkiya is the gem from the collection of Rabbi Howard Berman and is one of the very few surviving Colonial American menorahs. It is a hand beaten brass oil lamp in the Dutch style, made in New York, circa 1750. During the Revolutionary War, it was brought to Kingston, NY with its original owners, a family that joined most of the American Patriots of the Jewish community in evacuating the city when it was occupied by the British. The Menorah was handed down to their descendants in that area, who remained in the Hudson Valley after the rest of the Jews returned to Shearith Israel in New York. In the course of time, as the only Jewish family in Kingston, they assimilated, intermarried and eventually all of the family had become Christians. They knew the Menorah was part of their Jewish ancestry, and lit it as a family tradition on Christmas Eve. It was acquired from the last surviving family member, a 90 year old widow, when Berman was a guest speaker in the area in 1977.This humble piece is a relic of our heritage both as Sephardim and as American Jews- and a symbol of the struggle for freedom that inspired both the Chanukah Story and the American Revolution.