Where to buy a menorah in Madrid (Part II)

Mission accomplished!  Menorah in situ and ready to go!

I realized I promised to let people know about my trip to Los Olivos Librería y Distribuidora Solidaria, so while this is a few days old, I should let people know that I have successfully purchased a (somewhat whimsical) menorah (see above) which I feel is a nice nod to the oil in the story without the full of dealing with oil and wicks and so on.  (It also believe it or not was one of the less expensive ones in the store.)  Here it is, with candles, all ready to go, except for the tiny problem (which occurred to me forcibly when doing yoga last week, probably because there are lit candles in the studio) that I don't have any matches.  At home I rely on the gas flame of my stove to light candles in an emergency, but as I have an electric stovetop here that's not an option.  So I have to remember to buy matches sometime over the next couple of weeks.  (I was thinking about this while doing yoga and was upside down in a shoulder stand thinking "tengo que comprar...mechas?  No, una mecha is a wick...cerillas!  Tengo que comprar cerillas."  It's amazing what comes up when your mind is relaxed at yoga.)



Last week, shortly after my last blog entry about this I headed over to the tienda Los Olivos on the Calle General Ricardos, next to the Cuerpo de Cristo evangelical church (and a pollo asado place) during business hours.  The bell rang as I walked in, and found the place predictably deserted at nearly noon on a week day.  A woman behind the counter wished me buenos días, and I discovered that there was indeed a large variety of menorahs of all shapes, sizes, and materials behind a long glass counter, with a selection of crosses and star of David pendants in little jewelry boxes below.  The back of the store is devoted to (religious) books, and the front is a merry confusion of Jewish and Christian religious articles.

After finding my magical Aladdin's lamp menorah I politely explained to the woman behind the counter that I was interested in the price, which she quoted to me.  It was 30 euros, which was a bit more than I wanted to pay, but cheaper than the others I had considered as second and third choices (that were a bit more classical).  I could have asked for the cheapest which I think (based on the website) was the clear lucite one with crayon colors that looks like it's for children, but I liked this one, and I decided it counted as a souvenir.  While there I also asked about candles, and she produced a box, saying cheerfully, "¿necesitarás nueve velitas?"  ("You'll need nine little candles?")  I said apologetically that I was planning to use it for "varias noches" and that I would take the whole box.  (I know the boxes come with sufficient candles, and I wasn't about to start explaining the combinatorics of why so many were needed.)  She agreed that it was cheaper to buy the whole box rather than individual candles, and then ended up taking a photo of it with her phone before bagging it for me, as I snagged the last unopened box of candles, which made me doubly glad I had bought them then.

We chatted a bit while I was looking at menorahs, and I said how convenient the store was and she said that a lot of people said that and came in saying "sois los únicos" (you're the only ones) and other than that you have to go to Toledo to buy Judaica.  She also confirmed that they were associated with the church, and cheerfully invited me to come back at any time if I needed anything else, adding that all of their Judaica was imported from Israel (presumably along with several mugs showing the Israeli and Spanish flags crossed, and the words "Sepharad-Israel" printed on them).  I have highly mixed feelings about buying anything Israeli at the moment, but since the options for menorahs nowadays are probably Israel or China, and I know the options for candles (even in New York) are Israel, China, or Turkey, I figure it's a choice of evils, and like underwear, sometimes needs must.

So I went on my way with a friendly "Buenos días" and a little evangelical church pamphlet stuck into the plastic bag with my menorah and candles.  Eight nights should be just about enough to invite all of my various Spanish friends who have been so generous about invitations to Nochebuena (Christmas Eve), and Nochevieja (New Years), plus the inevitable Reyes Magos, etc.  I now feel prepared for the holidays, a good thing, since as I said yesterday, there is a giant wire cone that sort of represents a tree without being one, ready to be lighted up on the Gran Vía, and this evening when I emerged from the metro at Urgel there were blue Christmas lights strung up and glowing across the width of General Ricardos heading down to the river and the city center, and more elaborate displays are already set up (though not yet lighted) in Chamberi.  The city is slowly gearing up for the winter holidays, and I'm following the crowd.