MULTITUDE OF MENORAHS HANUKKAH'S SYMBOL REFLECTS FAMILY TRADITIONS ALL YEAR ROUND.

Byline: Amy Klein Correspondent

When I was in preschool, we made a beautiful menorah for Hanukkah from colorful wood blocks with metal bolts to hold the candles. Over the years, my siblings and I fought to grab our favorites among the red, blue, white, yellow and green candles. And as the multicolored wax melted each year, it melded with the menorah. It became part of the homemade contraption, turning it into something else, sweet and original, like no other.

Not all menorahs evoke such feelings of nostalgia, but these days, unique menorahs for all personality types are available. Like music? Get one with notes and instruments hanging from it. Know a mah-jongg aficionado? There's one made out of the tiles. Does your child like zebras, elephants or trains? Colored wire menorahs in those shapes may make a nice gift. For Imelda Marcos types, there are even ceramic menorahs made out of high-heeled shoes.

``There's always a variety, but every year we get more and more unique menorahs,'' says David Cooperman, owner of Shalom House in Woodland Hills, which carries more than 200 styles of menorahs, ranging in price from about $25 to more than $2,000. ``More and more we're finding that families have more than one menorah in the home - they're buying one for each child.''

Beyond the realm of kitsch, Judaica stores, catalogs, Web sites and museum gift shops also offer the more traditional ornate silver menorahs similar to the one that originally stood in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

Hanukkah commemorates the victorious battle of the Jewish Maccabees to reclaim that temple and win religious freedom for the Jews. In 165 B.C., they triumphed over the Syrian-Greek army, rededicated the temple and relit the menorah. Although they only found enough pure oil for one day, it lasted for eight.

The victory and the oil are the miracles of Hanukkah, marked by eating latkes (potato pancakes fried in oil), playing a game with the dreidl (a spinning top) and lighting the menorah.

Ever since that victory, people have displayed their menorah - or hanukkiyah in Hebrew - in the front windows of their homes to publicize the miracle and God's greatness.

``In the very beginning, they used separate clay lamps, one for each night,'' said Marcia Reines Josephy, the former curator of the Jewish Museum in New York, who lives in Los Angeles and has a collection of more than 20 menorahs. ``They were easy to make, and they were portable. And if they broke, you replaced it,'' said Josephy, who is also an anthropologist and Jewish art consultant.

Josephy sees a variety of menorahs in vogue today, with something to suit any taste.

``There's a Hebrew expression: 'im ta'am v'reach, eyn le'hitvake'ach': 'What I find interesting someone else might find really ugly.' ''

What many people today consider ``traditional'' menorahs - the elaborate, expensive silver candelabras - were not in use until the 1700s because of the prohibition against replicating temple artifacts (the silver ones today have nine branches, as opposed to the seven-branch one that was used in the Temple). But since it is a mitzvah (a positive commandment) to enhance ritual objects, ``Artists started to come up with different possibilities, and that was nice,'' Josephy said, noting that they used the architecture and materials from the countries in which they lived.

For example, her menorah from Morocco has arches and other shapes but no human forms because that is forbidden by the Muslim religion. Menorahs from European countries, though, had figures of the lions of Judah and other biblical characters on it.

Today, the tradition of borrowing from local materials and trends continues. California artisans make beautiful ceramic menorahs; glass, brass, bronze, silver and aluminum are used in menorahs of every shape and style, from the ``Ever-Changing Hanukkah Menorah,'' which is composed of movable parts shaped like L's that can be arranged in various configurations like a 3-D puzzle, to a silver menorah with individual oil pitchers for each wick.

Modern technology also has been used to design menorahs: Jerusalem artist Judith Berg created an intricate Inspector Gadget-like menorah that allows the oil to burn for eight days on its own, which won the first biannual Spertus Institute's 1994 Judaica competition.

``One of (the competition's) goals is to encourage artists who might not be interested in making Judaica,'' said Betsy Gomberg, director of Institutional Outreach at Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies in Chicago. ``It's generated discussion because general artists have really created some very unusual things.''

With such beautiful offerings available, menorahs can be part of household decor beyond the holiday season, Cooperman says. ``We hope people will display them rather than box them up. Menorahs are also pieces of Judaic art that can really enhance the home.''

This year, some people may have in their possession a menorah made of fake ice cubes, Coca-Cola cans, metal tulips or Lucite chairs. But remember, it's the one that's been in the family for years - with so many colors of wax caked onto it - that often is more unique than anything any artist can design.

CAPTION(S):

11 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Hanukkah illuminated

New or heirloom, menorahs tell a personal story

(2 -- color) Colored wire menorahs - here, a camel and a lion - offer a whimsical twist.

(3 -- 5 -- color) Ornate silver menorahs, similar to the ones that stood in the temple in Jerusalem, are the most traditional style.

(6 -- color) Also silver, but more modern in style, are these adaptations of the traditional Hanukkah menorah.

(7 -- color) Menorahs decorated with the lions of Judah carry a European influence.

(8 -- 9 -- color) Menorahs aren't just displayed during Hanukkah. Their beauty and link with tradition make them something to be seen throughout the year. All menorahs from the Museum of Tolerance at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Los Angeles.

(10 -- 11 -- color) Children can have their very own menorahs. Those featuring a favorite animal, or Noah's Ark bearing a variety of critters, are popular with youngsters.

Photos by Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer