Hanukka Lamp (″Hanukkiya″) from England

Hanukkiya from England
Hanukka Coin 5748 - 1987

The history of the Jewish community in England begins with its Norman conquest in 1066.
Discrimination against the community was commonplace.
In 1290, the Jews of medieval England were stripped of their possessions and expelled.
Jews were formally admitted to England in 1656, though Spanish and Portuguese Moranos traded in London and Bristol before that date.
Communal institutions founded in the 18th Century - headed by the Chief Rabbinate and the Board of Deputies of British Jews - established a pattern of Anglo-Jewish traditionalism.
Between 1881 and 1914, Jews fleeing the Czarist pogroms reached England en route to the U.S.A. and other lands, but some remained to swell the Anglo Jewish population. A further 70,000 refugees arrived during the Nazi period.
Anglo Jewry has been notably connected with the restoration and development of the Land of Israel. Some of the more prominent names were Sir Moses Montefiore and Sir Isaac Wolfson. British Zionists became strong supporters of Dr. Chaim Weizmann and were involved in securing the Balfour Declaration in 1917, which led to the establishment of the modern State of Israel.

Obverse:
The emblem of the State of Israel, the word "Israel" in Hebrew, English and Arabic and the mint year - 1987-5748. On the proof coin, the face value of 2 New Sheqalim and the Hebrew letter "mem" mintmark. On the B.U. coin, face value of 1 New Sheqel and Star of David mintmark. Around this, a line representing the shape of the Hanukka Lamp.

Reverse:
Silver Hanukkiya dating from 1709, from the Felix Navarro Collection of the London Jewish Museum, showing the prophet Elijah being fed by the ravens, in the lower border, Hebrew inscription "Hanukka Lamp from England - 18th Century", all within a line representing the shape of the Hanukka Lamp.

Edge:
Proof Coin - milled, B.U. Coin - smooth.

Mint Marks:
On the obverse of the B.U. Coin, a Star of David, on the obverse of the Proof Coin, Hebrew letter "Mem", beneath the Israel State emblem.

Designer:
Ruth Lubin

Mint:
B.U. Coin - Mint of Stuttgart
Proof Coin - Mint of Munich