Candles in the shape of a Jewish man holding a gold coin have recently been discovered for sale on the website of a beekeeping center in Poland.
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The candles feature a man in bearded man in Jewish Orthodox dress and come in two sizes: "Little Jew" (12.5 cm/ 5 inches), and "Big Jew" (19.5 cm/7.6 inches). They are described as "the image of a financially successful Jew … The candle gives off a pleasant, warm light and a nice scent while lighted."
The candles were discovered by Elizabeta Magenheim, a member of Warsaw's Jewish community, who posted a picture of them in a popular Facebook group.
Israel Hayom looked into the matter and found that as of Monday, the candles were no longer posted on the shop's website.
"This crosses a line when it comes to hatred and insensitivity. This time, a Jew is being burned in the same places where millions of Jews were burned 80 years ago," said Meir Bulka, founder and chairman of J-nerations, which works to preserve the legacy of Polish Jewry.
"For some reason, the Poles don't understand that 'the Jew with the zloty,' one of the most-sold items to tourists and locals, has anti-Semitic connotations, and this time they have gone even further over the line," he said.
Jan Gebert, a member of the Warsaw Jewish community who collects "lucky Jew" figurines and dolls, took pictures of the candles. He told the local website jewish.pl that the sight of the items aroused difficult emotions.
"It's disgusting that there are candles in the shape of a Jew, that can be burned, and all that will be left is a gold-colored coin," Gebert said.
However, Gebert said he did not think that the candles had been designed out of anti-Semitic motives.
"I don't think that's what the manufacturers intended," he said.
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