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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…
This book was printed in Belvedere, outside Constantinople, by Reina Nasi, the daughter of Gracia Nasi, and widow of Joseph. She was the first Jewish woman to establish her own press.
This Torah ark curtain from Gördes, Turkey, features an archway flanked on either side with double columns and a hanging lamp, a motif common to both Islamic prayer rugs and mats and Ottoman Torah ark…
This Torah curtain was made in Ankara, Turkey. The motifs of a central menorah and hands making the priestly blessing were common in other Ottoman Jewish ritual folk art. Embroidered verses from the…
This remarkable illustration is at the same time a shiviti—traditionally, a decorative plaque bearing the verse: “I am ever mindful of the Lord’s presence”—and a topographic map of the land of Israel…
Sarah Soncino, who died in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey) in 1735, was a member of the prominent Soncino family, which established a printing press there in 1530, one in a long line of…
The embroidered structure in the center of this silk Torah ark curtain is thought to be a loose representation of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, with its six minarets and entryway stairs. A somewhat…
Kabbalists prayed using the basic Jewish prayers, but added certain elements according to their own tradition. The prayers are often presented with kavanot (special devotional forms, meanings, and…
This is the frontispiece and first page of the Constantinople Polyglot Bible, the first of two multilingual editions of the Pentateuch printed by Eliezer Soncino in Constantinople. It contained the…
Paper cuts have been a tradition of Jewish folk art, with the earliest record of one dating to the fourteenth century. Given the widespread availability of paper in Europe by the mid-nineteenth…
