Synagogue Service for the New Year

Paul Christian Kirchner

Johann Georg Puschner

Sebastian Jugendres

1724

Print engraving of large group of people in room with vaulted ceiling, raised platform on left side, open Torah ark, and balcony.
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This illustration depicting Rosh Hashanah services in a synagogue appeared in the book Jüdisches Ceremoniel (Jewish Ceremonial Customs), by Paul Christian Kirchner, a Jewish convert to Christianity. The first edition of his book, published in Erfurt, Germany, in 1717, had no illustrations and was critical of Judaism. In 1724, a new edition of the book was published in Nuremberg, Germany. It was edited by Christian Hebraist Sebastian Jugendres, who softened Kirchner’s criticism of Judaism. It included twenty-eight copperplate engravings, which were made in the workshop of Johann Georg Puschner and his son, also named Johann Georg.

Credits

Paul Christian Kirchner, “Das Neue Jahrsfelt,” from Jüdisches Ceremoniel (Nürnberg: Peter Conrad Monath, 1724), p. 110. Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

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Page with Hebrew text of decorative border and Star of David located in bottom section, with signatures in the Roman alphabet below.
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