Creator Bio

Honorata Foa

17th Century

Honorata Foa, the wife of Simon Foa, was a Jewish woman living in Italy in the seventeenth century who embroidered a Torah binder for a son or grandson.

Content by Honorata Foa

Primary Source

Torah Binder (Italy)

Public Access
Image
This Torah binder is one of the earliest examples from Italy. The binder (also known as a wimpel) was intended to accompany the male child through his lifetime, through the stages of his circumcision…
Page with Hebrew text of decorative border and Star of David located in bottom section, with signatures in the Roman alphabet below.
Tooltip info icon

Related Guide

Early Modern Rabbis and Intellectuals on the Move

1500–1750

Carrying books and knowledge, itinerant rabbis and scholars traveled between communities, facilitating cultural exchange. 

Manuscript scroll page with Hebrew text and decorated border with illustrations of cherubs, faces, animals, ribbons, and flowers.
Tooltip info icon

Related Guide

Early Modern Italy: Where East and West Meet

1500–1750

Ashkenazim, Sephardim, and Marranos encountered each other in Italian cities, developing community structures that later influenced Jewish communal organization throughout the western world.

Two-panel drawing, the top of many people in interior room, some seated on right side under canopy, and the bottom of many people outside with a central figure with veil.
Tooltip info icon

Related Guide

Early Modern Religious Practices

1500–1750

Early modern Jews both preserved tradition and innovated. Documents and legal texts reveal rich details about synagogue life, marriage, family relations, and death rituals.