Dreidel Metal alloy United States, mid-20th century Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Cyril Gross Skirball Museum A dreidel is a four-sided spinning top, played with during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Each side of the dreidel bears a letter of the Hebrew alphabet which together form the acronym for “a great miracle happened there,” [...]
Kiddush Cup Silver Germany, 1861 Gift of Mystic Seaport Inc. Skirball Museum This cup used for the blessing of wine on the weekly Sabbath or Shabbat is inscribed in Hebrew below the lip with these words from Exodus 19:8: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” The Jewish calendar date of 5621 corresponds [...]
Tefillin Cases Silver Lemberg, Austria, ca. 1854 Hebrew inscription: For head; for hand; Isaac Meyer Segal Gift of Jewish Cultural Reconstruction Organization Skirball Museum Tefillin, also called phylacteries, meaning “to guard, protect,” are a set of small black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. They are worn by [...]
Mezuzah Ludwig Wolpert (Germany 1900—New York 1981) Silver Israel, ca. 1950 Skirball Museum A mezuzah is a parchment inscribed with specified religious texts and attached in a case to the doorpost of a Jewish home as a sign of faith. Among devout Jews, it is customary to kiss one’s fingers and then bring the [...]
Spice Container Cast, cut-out, engraved and stippled silver Minden, Germany, 19th century Marks: Minden city mark; 13; two illegible marks Gift of Joseph B. and Olyn Horwitz B’nai B’rith Klutznick Collection of Skirball Museum Spice containers in the shape of towers have been popular in Europe since medieval times, with the earliest known example [...]
Hanukkah Lamp Cast and engraved brass Prague, Czechoslovakia, 1927 B’nai B’rith Klutznick Collection of the Skirball Museum, gift of Louise Oestreicher, 1969, 2018.5.1 This lamp is one of a group of Hanukkah lamps made in 1927 to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Prague B’nai B’rith Lodge in April of 1902. [...]
Aron HaKodesh (Holy Ark) Hand-carved wood Trzcianka, Poland (former Posen territory), ca. 1779 Scheuer Chapel, Herrman Learning Center Cincinnati Skirball Museum Kirschstein Collection Currently located in the Scheuer Chapel, this Aron HaKodesh, Holy Ark, is originally from the small town of Trzcianka (in German Schönlanke ), outside of Posen in Poland. There, it resided in [...]
Plate for Shavuot I.S. Central Europe, 19th c. Pewter Gift of Dr. Louis Grossman The festival of Shavuot is one of the three Hag Hakatzir, or Harvest Holidays, mentioned in the Bible. Shavuot began as a strictly agricultural festival to celebrate the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest, a [...]
Rosh Hashanah Cards Die cut, embossed cardstock USA, c. 1910 Gift of Temple Beth Hillel Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the High Holy Days, as well as the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah, meaning “head of the year,” typically occurs in September or October and its advent on the first day of the [...]
Etrog Container 19th century, Germany Silver The Festival of Sukkot, a seven day Thanksgiving festival, takes place four days after Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Sukkot is one of Judaism’s harvest festivals and is often celebrated with various festivities, such as Consecration, the ceremony marking the beginning of a child’s Jewish education, and [...]
