This woodcut is an illustration in Sefer minhagim (Book of Customs), a very popular Yiddish book published by Giovanni di Gara, the leading publisher of Jewish books in Venice from 1564 to 1609. It…
Oh prairie, endless prairie,
The eyes of the herdsmen look out:
Not a bush, not a thistle, not a tree,
A new wind comes to the desert.
Over forlorn expanses the song of the herdsmen
Will sound and…
In some Hasidic communities, it became a common practice for the Hasidic leader or rebbe to give specially sanctified coins as amulets that could confer blessings on the holder. These coins-turned…