Showing Results 951 - 960 of 1464
The influence of Rahel Levin Varnhagen (1771-1833) on German culture owed much to the salon society of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Hostess of a noted salon in Berlin, she was…
In 1391, Isaac ben Sheshet Perfet (known as Rivash), a respected rabbinic scholar and author of numerous responsa, suffered from the violent riots and mass conversions in Spain but then fled to…
Twice elected prime minister of Britain, Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) initially turned to writing in an effort to pay his debts; his early works were fashionable “silver-fork novels” depicting an…
Silver signet ring with image of galloping griffin, a hybrid creature that consists of feline body and legs, avian head and wings, and serpentine tail. Found in a burial cave in the Ketef Hinnom…
This sculpture of Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786) was created by Tassaert, a distinguished sculptor of the day. Mendelssohn sat for him, and copies of the bust were later made for Mendelssohn’s closest…
This Torah shield contains a rare example of a personal inscription by the silversmith, stating: “This is the work of my hands in which I take pride, Ze’ev ben Abraham [?], silversmith from Piotrków…
This wedding riddle from Italy is written in Hebrew and Judeo-Italian. Wedding songs, sometimes performed by professional jesters, were traditional at Jewish weddings. Some had lyrics in the form of…
Benjamin S. Judah (1761–1831) was an influential businessman in New York City and Philadelphia who built his wealth on shipping contracts to and from the West Indies. Judah was bankrupted when Great…
This cup and saucer set features a portrait of Jewish German banker Isaac Daniel Itzig and a picture of one of his homes in Berlin, the Bartholdy Meierei (Bartholdi dairy) on Köpenickerstrasse…
Before the priestly blessing is recited in the synagogue, those making the blessing ritually wash their hands. It is also customary for Jews to wash their hands before entering a synagogue for worship…
