A Boy's Bar Mitzvah Coat from Bukhara

“You be the man. You lead!” So his mother commanded him, taking his reluctant hands and putting them firmly around her middle. “Go on, lead!” She smiled at him. He could feel her breath on his face…

The illustrations Tracht der Juden zu Worms (Jewish Men’s and Women’s Clothing in Worms) show a man and woman in typical Jewish fashion of the sixteenth century. The woman wears a white veil and…