Dreidel for Eleazar the Horani by Avi Biran

A DREIDEL (SEVIVON) FOR ELEAZAR THE HORANI

Eleazar "saw that one of the beasts was equipped with royal armor. It was taller than all the others, and he supposed that the king was upon it. So he gave his life to save his people and to win for himself an everlasting name. He courageously ran into the midst of the phalanx to reach it; He killed men right and left, and they parted before him on both sides. He got under the elephant, stabbed it from beneath , and killed it; But it fell to the ground upon him and there he died"

(1 Maccabees 6:43-46)

Eleazar the Horani, one of the leaders of the Maccabian revolt against the Greeks, was the son of Mattitiahu the Hashmonai and the brother of Judah the Maccabi.
In the year 163 BCE near Beit Zechariah, there was a fight against the Syrian forces of Anthiocus which were nearing Jerusalem.
Four elephants surround the forlorn and overturned helmet of Eleazar. As the Sevivon spins the outline of the helmet in accentuated while the images of the elephants are completely blurred alluding to the decine of the Greek empire and the rise the Jewish nation.
At the end of the spin the elephants' tails strike the floor with a repetative sound, which symbolizes the chaos of war. When the sevivon falls onto its side, one of the four words: nes gadol haya po (A great miracle occurred here) will be seen on the side of the elephant facing upward.

Gold plate on Sterling Silver, 2.5" x 2.5" x 3.3".

$1,118

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