Showing Results 11 - 20 of 88
This Hanukkah lamp was made in Nuremberg, Germany, where it was characteristic in the eighteenth century for Hanukkah lamps to include a parchment with the blessings for lighting. At the time, however…
These silver and filigree Torah finials used by Amsterdam’s Ashkenazic community are shaped like four-tiered towers. They have gilt bells in their arches and gilt urns on their corners and are topped…
This Purim tray from the seventeenth century was made in Hamburg, Germany. A fine repoussé piece, its center is adorned with a court scene, complete with a ruler sitting on a raised throne, surrounded…
This decorated manuscript of the prayers for a circumcision ceremony was owned by one Joseph ben Samuel. On its title page (not shown) is an unidentified coat of arms decorated with the Order of the…
The book of Esther is chanted aloud from a scroll (megillah) on the holiday of Purim. This example from the Netherlands is lavishly decorated, with the Hebrew text framed by arcades between which are…
This print depicting a service in the synagogue in Fürth is from the beginning of the eighteenth century, a period of prosperity for the city’s Jewish community. There were between 350 and 400 Jewish…
This woodcut depicts Jewish women and girls lighting candles to mark the beginning of the Sabbath or a holiday. The illustration appears in a Yiddish translation by Shim’on Levi Gintsburg, printed in…
In this table, giving the notation for chanting the Torah, the musical notes indicate the melody of each cantillation mark, while the Hebrew words below them indicate the name and shape of the mark.
In Jewish tradition, the end of the Sabbath (or a festival) is marked by the ceremony of Havdalah, which includes the ritual smelling of spices (besomim). Many Jewish cultures approached the box…
