Kiddush Cup of Judah Loew (Prague)
This silver kiddush cup is believed to have belonged to Judah Loew. Known as the Maharal of Prague, Judah Loew ben Bezalel spent twenty years as rabbi in Moravia, moving in 1573 to the Bohemian capital, where he established an institution of advanced rabbinic learning, the “Kloyz.” After a brief period as rabbi in Poznań, his likely birthplace, he returned to Prague and served as its rabbi from the late 1590s until his death. Judah Loew proposed educational reform emphasizing students’ structured progression to gradually more complex texts and opposed casuistry (pilpul) in Talmud study. After his death, he came to be viewed as the legendary creator of a golem, a creature animated from clay, and as spiritual father of some Hasidic circles.
Credits
With permission of the Jewish Museum in Prague.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.
You may also like
Klausen Synagogue (Prague)
The Klausen Synagogue in Prague gets its name from the kloyz (a complex of buildings used for religious purposes, including synagogues) that originally stood on its site, erected in the 1570s. The…
A Zarqa Table
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.
A Program for Shavuot
Shene luḥot ha-berit
This passage on the practice of staying awake all night on Shavuot to study offers a program of study including the Bible and rabbinic and mystical works.
Jewish Wedding
In this engraving from a Dutch translation of Leone Modena’s Historia de’ riti Ebraici (History of the Jewish Rites), a Jewish wedding in Amsterdam is pictured. Groom and bride stand under the huppah…
Liturgy for the Ashmoret ha-boker (Morning Watch) Confraternity
The Zohar, in the portion of Naso on the verse and in the night His song shall be with…
Silver circumcision plate
This silver plate from Padua, Italy, was made for use in the brit milah, the circumcision ritual celebrated when a baby boy is eight days old. In this detailed depiction of the ritual, the baby seems…
Engage with this Source
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.
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.
You may also like
Klausen Synagogue (Prague)
The Klausen Synagogue in Prague gets its name from the kloyz (a complex of buildings used for religious purposes, including synagogues) that originally stood on its site, erected in the 1570s. The…
A Zarqa Table
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.
A Program for Shavuot
Shene luḥot ha-berit
This passage on the practice of staying awake all night on Shavuot to study offers a program of study including the Bible and rabbinic and mystical works.
Jewish Wedding
In this engraving from a Dutch translation of Leone Modena’s Historia de’ riti Ebraici (History of the Jewish Rites), a Jewish wedding in Amsterdam is pictured. Groom and bride stand under the huppah…
Liturgy for the Ashmoret ha-boker (Morning Watch) Confraternity
The Zohar, in the portion of Naso on the verse and in the night His song shall be with…
Silver circumcision plate
This silver plate from Padua, Italy, was made for use in the brit milah, the circumcision ritual celebrated when a baby boy is eight days old. In this detailed depiction of the ritual, the baby seems…