The release of Canada Post’s forthcoming Hanukkah stamp, which was slated to be issued nationwide today, has been pushed back one week according to recent statement from the Crown corporation.
The planned release date was changed to resolve a design issue with the stamp booklet, according to Phil Legault, media relations manager with Canada Post. The stamp will be available for sale online on Nov. 20 and in post offices later that week.
“This is an important stamp and we apologize for the delay,” he added.
The stamp, which celebrates the Jewish faith’s eight-day celebration also known as the Festival of Lights, features a geometric design representing the different types of menorahs along with a strong contrast between light and dark, creating the appearance of flickering flames. Hanukkah begins on the 25th day of Kislev, the ninth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. This year, the festival takes place from sunset on Dec. 12 to nightfall on Dec. 20.
Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, Judaism’s holiest site, in the second century BCE, after the Maccabees regained religious freedom. The Temple menorah (a seven-branched candelabra) was supposed to stay lit at all times. However, there was only enough oil to last one day, and it would take eight days to harvest and press the olives, and transport the oil to replenish the supply. Miraculously, that small amount burned for the next eight days, which is why the kindling of a menorah, adding a light each day, is central to the eight-day Hanukkah celebrations.
Hanukkah has been celebrated in Canada for more than 250 years, since 1760, when the first Jews were allowed to immigrate.
LAST WEEK’S UNVEILING
The stamp was unveiled at the Starry Nights event held at the Bram & Bluma Appel Salon at the Toronto Reference Library and hosted by Ve’ahavta, a Jewish charitable organization delivering programs that alleviate poverty. It will be available in booklets of 10 Permanent stamps, each measuring 28 mm by 35 mm.
The stamp was designed by Angela Carter, of Toronto’s Entro Communications. As with all 2017 stamp issues, the Hanukkah stamp includes a reference to the sesquicentennial of Canadian Confederation: printed in microtype along the right side are the words “Canada 150.”