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This page from a birkon (Grace after Meals) is an example of the work of Aaron Wolf Herlingen (Aaron Schreiber), a prominent eighteenth-century scribe and artist known for his illustrated Grace after…
The frontispiece of this Haggadah shows the biblical Aaron on the left, carrying the Temple incense, and Moses on the right, holding the tablets of the Law. The scene at the bottom of the page shows a…
This page from a Haggadah produced in Amsterdam is an example of the work of Joseph Ben David, a prominent eighteenth-century scribe and artist known particularly for his illustrated Haggadahs. This…
This remarkable manuscript of practical kabbalah was written in Eastern Europe in the mid-eighteenth century; at the end of that century it was owned by the Radvil Hasidic dynasty. In contrast to…
Kabbalists prayed using the basic Jewish prayers, but added certain elements according to their own tradition. The prayers are often presented with kavanot (special devotional forms, meanings, and…
One of Charlotte von Rothschild’s most outstanding works is the only known nineteenth-century Hebrew manuscript to have been illuminated by a woman.
This ketubah (marriage contract) from Padua, Italy, marks the marriage of Samuel ben Gerson ha-Kohen me-ha-ḥazanim (“of the cantors,” or Cantarini) and Colomba bat David Aziz. The groom was a…
Traditionally, until increased access to doctors and hospitals was available after World War I, many East European Jews relied on folk medicine, which included amulets and magical cures. Books, like…
This two-page spread from Elijah ben Moses Loanz’s Toledot Adam (The Generations of Adam) includes examples of some of the kabbalistic amulets and formulae for which he was famous.
This map showing tombs in the land of Israel was drawn in Italy by a Jewish scribe and is an example of a “pilgrimage scroll.” Pilgrimage scrolls, also known as itineraries, included visual and…
