Scuola Grande Tedesca (Venice)

This silver, repoussé, punched, engraved, and cast Torah shield, decorated with flowers and bunches of grapes, from Metz, France, is inscribed in Hebrew: C[rown of] T[orah]; Festival of Shavuot.

Johanna Maria Jenny Lind (born Johanna Maria Lind, 1820–1887) was known as the “Swedish Nightingale” and was one of the most highly regarded singers of the nineteenth century. After performing in…

Like Torah scrolls, the scroll of the biblical book of Esther, read ritually in the synagogue on the holiday of Purim, must be completely unadorned. However, in the sixteenth century, for reasons…