Tikun keriyah le-kol laylah ve-yom (Supplications for Every Day and Night)
The frontispiece of this book of penitential prayers, printed in Amsterdam by David de Castro Tartas, proclaims the pro-Sabbatean beliefs that were then widespread in the Amsterdam Jewish community and in many other Jewish communities worldwide. The engraving depicts Shabbetai Tzvi seated on a throne as the Messiah, under a crown with the words: “The crown of Tzvi.” Disciples and lions stand on both sides of the chair. The Hebrew inscription below is the messianic verse: “In those days and at that time, I will cause to grow up to David a branch of righteousness; he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth” (Jeremiah 33:15). The scene below shows a group of sages sitting around a table, watched by a gigantic crowd. The Hebrew there reads: “You shall meditate in [this book] day and night” (Joshua 1:8). The collection of prayers was compiled by Nathan of Gaza (though his name is not mentioned on the title pages of the Hebrew editions). In 1665, he sent the collection to Europe, where it was widely disseminated.
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Credits
Courtesy Allard Pierson — the Collections of the University of Amsterdam, ROK A 1682.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.
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