hiddur-mitzvah

[hiddur-mitzvah]

Torah mantle and finials

Sefrou, Morocco, 1925/26

Cotton, silk; gilt metal-thread embroider

Inscribed in Hebrew: “This is the Torah that was written by me, Servant of the Lord, Amram Azini, may the Lord protect and sustain me, year 5686 (1925/26)”

In Morocco it was customary to cover the scroll with a mantle (unlike the tradition in most North African communities, where it is enclosed in a rigid case). Illustrations in Hebrew manuscripts suggest that the custom originated in Spain. This mantle was constructed by combining a stiff body and a hard, round top, both strengthened with cardboard. Gilt metal-thread embroidery embellished a cut-out leather pattern to create dense geometric patterns and stylised floral designs. The textiles associated with Torah scroll were usually embroidered by Jewish men.

[hiddur-mitzvah]

I wish it were better known and appreciated that the majority of non-Mediterranean European ancestry in Ashkenazim mostly comes from people who willingly converted to Judaism, even despite great personal risk. As we've learned from genetic studies, most of these people were women; over 90% of male Y-chromosomal lines are from the Middle East and Mediterranean while about 60% of female mtDNA lineages are.

These European women and men knowingly chose to become Jewish despite the fact that they would be persecuted for it, that they and their children would be subjugated to exclusionary laws, and that they could lose their reputations and standing with their former communities. They could and were at certain times even executed for becoming Jewish or having romantic relationships with Jews, and would be murdered in pogroms like the 1096 Rhineland massacres because they were Jews.

This man's name is lost to us today, but he became Jewish and remained Jewish in a hostile environment where there were zero benefits in wider society for doing so. With the recent massacres looming over his head, he was even anxiously considering the possibility that he might someday kill himself rather than give up his identity as a Jew should a mob come for him and demand he convert to Christianity.

Of course at times they weren't even given the option to convert/be baptized into Christianity. They were massacred along with the other Jews of the community.

When it was discovered that Marina Davidovna Surawicza had converted to Judaism in the 18th century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, she was arrested, tortured, and eventually executed.

The same thing happened to Maryna Wojciechówna and Paraska Daniłowna, both of whom were executed during the same time period because they converted and married Jewish men. They arrested Maryna at her own wedding.

I understand the frustration, grief, and anger in posts where people respond to the deep, longstanding mire of antisemitic rhetoric that people use to hurl primarily at Ashkenazim to delegitimize them and their heritage because of their history in Europe. I understand what it is to watch people spin narratives out of misapplied discourse about modern conceptions and racial politics in countries like the USA, especially when those narratives become the foundation for excusing or promoting dangerous misinformation, violence, and hate against Jews just because some of their recent ancestors lived in Europe and may have had on average lighter skin, hair, and eyes, (none of which are exclusive to Europeans or to America's present conception of "white people.") I understand what it's like facing an onslaught of ignorant and false statements designed to delegitimize, deny, and accuse Jews for Bullshit Reason #263434.

I just want you to know that you have ancestors like Marina and the man from 11th century Germany whose name we'll never know, people with an extraordinary amount of bravery and personal conviction who chose to be Jewish despite knowing that they would be oppressed and perhaps even killed for it.

Do not let antisemites make you feel ashamed that these people are part of Am Yisrael.

[hiddur-mitzvah]

Jew from Vilna, Lithuania, 1866. The man is wearing a “talith gadol,” a large talith that was always put on for the morning prayer.

[hiddur-mitzvah]

Praying in the Synagogue by Stanisław Grocholski (c.1895)

[hiddur-mitzvah]

In the synagogue in Moscow, Russia, 1989. By Georgiy Pinkhasov.

[hiddur-mitzvah]

Ephraim Moses Lilien

[hiddur-mitzvah]

Yehudit Shadur (Israeli, 1928 - 2011), Deft Hands That Devise Skillful Works, Papercut, 40 × 33 in.

Exodus 35:35

They have been given the wisdom of heart to work all manner of crafts, of the designer and the weaver and the embroiderers in colors, in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine twined linen, even of them of deft hands that do any workmanship and of those that devise skillful works

In an effort to gather works of beauty for the Tabernacle, the artisans, such as Bezalel, that G-d had endowed with “divine spirit of skill, ability, and knowledge of craft” were summoned to contribute their crafts in the presence of the Lord, as Moses had commanded.

This mural papercut was made for the former Fiber Art Center in Amherst, MA as a way to honor all manner of crafts. x

[hiddur-mitzvah]

Bezazel silver filigree tefillin boxes

[hiddur-mitzvah]

ken goldman, “kisses torah mantle,” silk and lipstick

[hiddur-mitzvah]

A German women’s tzedakah box, silver

Art Deco stove form, on four angular legs with rear handle, the front inscribed in Hebrew In Aid of Women, the sides in German Women’s Society

[hiddur-mitzvah]

Young girl dressed as Queen Esther at the Ahrida Synagogue Purim Celebration, Istanbul, 2005

[hiddur-mitzvah]

Ketubah from Ancona, 1764

ink and gouache on parchment.

81 x 56 cm

Recording the marriage of Isaac Shabbetai, son of Joseph Alconstantini and Judita, daughter of Joseph Morpurgo, on Wednesday, 3 Adar II, 5524 [= March 7, 1764]

This magnificent border of 1764 is an artistic tour de force; although it appears to be designed with an intricate cutout border, it is in fact executed entirely in paint and ink. In addition to meandering floral and foliate bands, the border displays sixteen wreaths, each containing a biblical personality. While many of these figures are frequently found on ketubot (such as the images of Moses, Aaron, David and Solomon in the four corners), the choice and arrangement of others was clearly dictated by the bridal couple. Their biblical namesakes, Judith and Isaac, are placed directly above the text, while the appropriate biblical scene of Isaac’s marriage to Rebecca appears in the upper left border. The magnificent page is crowned by the emblem of the Alcostantini (groom’s) family.

[hiddur-mitzvah]

Megillat Esther (Esther scroll), Northern Italy, mid-18th century

ink, gouache, gold and silver paint on parchment.

Scroll: 54.6 x 514 cm

Written in square Hebrew script in dark brown ink in 19 text columns of 22 lines per column, on 7 membranes; sewn with sinew.

The decorative program of this monumental Esther Scroll features elaborate text illustrations, allegorical figures, as well as putti and other ornamental motifs. The text of the biblical Book of Esther is written within arcades, flanked by tortile columns and topped by a balustrade supported, within each arcade, by two flower-bearing putti and surmounted with elaborate floral and faunal motifs. A series of miniatures set above and below the text columns forms the borders of the megillah and depict the dramatic events of the story in a detailed sequence of vignettes. The miniatures in the upper border alternate with a series of seated allegorical figures, each atop a cartouche inscribed with descriptive Hebrew verses. The scenes are richly painted in multicoloured gouache and further ornamented with gold and silver paint.

[hiddur-mitzvah]

Yardena Cohen

[hiddur-mitzvah]

Book of Esther by Moshe Dadon (Israeli, 1943-2021)

Moshe Dadon, originally from Morocco, learned microcalligraphy as a boy when local rabbinical leaders, following an anti-Jewish riot, began searching for ways to create tiny Hebrew ritual items, such as a Torah scroll, which could be transported through the city without attracting the attention of people who sought to destroy them. At age eight, Moshe was taught the profession of “sofor-stam”, that is, of someone who writes Jewish religious texts on parchment for ritual use.

[hiddur-mitzvah]

Olive branch yad

[hiddur-mitzvah]

Synagogues in Romania

Brasov - Sighetu Marmatiei - Oradea - Satu Mare - Alba Iulia - Targu Mures