Jacob Rader Marcus David Holleman (Arlington, MA 1927-2020 Lexington, MA) Massachusetts, ca. 2015 Colored pencil drawing, h. 25 ½ x w. 19 ¾ in. Cincinnati Skirball Museum, gift of Barbara Holleman in memory of David Holleman Jacob Rader Marcus was the first trained historian of the Jewish people born in America and the first [...]
Moses Candelabrum Benno Elkan (Dortmund, Germany 1877—London, England 1960) Bronze, h. 18 x w. 17 in. London, England 1955 Cincinnati Skirball Museum, given in honor of A. Edgar and Alice B. Aub by their children, Mary Alice Borg, A. Edgar Aub, Jr., and Claire A. Bedolis, 1981, 27.128. Recently, a set of letters surfaced [...]
Shofar - Ram's Horn Germany, 1780 Etched and cut-out horn, l. 13 ½ in. Cincinnati Skirball Museum, B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum Collection, gift of Joseph B. and Olyn Horwitz This 18th century German shofar is inscribed with the Hebrew words of Psalm 81:4-5: “Blow up the horn in the new moon, in [...]
Hanukkah Lamp Ludwig Wolpert (1900-1981) Brass Jerusalem, ca. 1950 Signed in Hebrew “Wolpert Jerusalem” and in English “Israel” Cincinnati Skirball Museum, B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum Collection, gift of Abram Kanof This Hanukkah lamp was made by German-born Ludwig Wolpert (1900-1981) who studied sculpture and metalwork in Frankfurt before immigrating to Mandate Palestine in [...]
Torah Finials Carl Bitzel (1749-1823) Silver: repoussé, pierced, engraved, and cast; 18 1/16” inches/ 18 ¼” x diameter 4.92” inches Augsburg (Germany) 1803 B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum Collection of the Cincinnati Skirball Museum, gift of Joseph B. and Olyn Horwitz, 2015.17.430 a & b There is a long artistic tradition of embellishing the [...]
Charoset Container Silver Germany, 19th century Gift of Joseph B. and Olyn Horwitz B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum Collection Charoset is one of the foods that is placed on a special plate during the Passover seder (a ritual service and ceremonial dinner) that symbolizes the brick and mortar the Jewish people used during their [...]
Kapparot Mark Podwal (b. 1945) Digitial archival pigment print on paper 7 7/16 x 7 9/16" USA, 2020 © Mark Podwal Kapparot, which literally means “atonements,” is the custom in which a person’s sins are symbolically transferred to a fowl. The ceremony is performed on the day before Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) while some [...]
Carrying the Deceased to the Cemetery Mark Podwal (b. 1945) Digitial archival pigment print on paper 7 7/16 x 7 9/16" USA, 2020 © Mark Podwal To escort the deceased to burial was regarded as a foremost obligation in early rabbinic Judaism. To fail to do so was considered to be mocking God. Haste was [...]
Wedding Mark Podwal (b. 1945) Digitial archival pigment print on paper 7 7/16 x 7 9/16" USA, 2020 © Mark Podwal The origins of the chuppah—the fabric canopy under which a Jewish wedding takes place—are rather ambiguous. The chuppah is often understood as symbolizing the Jewish home the new married couple will create together. The [...]
Circumcision Mark Podwal (b. 1945) Digitial archival pigment print on paper 7 7/16 x 7 9/16" USA, 2020 © Mark Podwal B’rit milah (circumcision) is among the earliest Jewish religious rituals. The Torah tells how Abraham was commanded by God to circumcise himself, all the males in his household, his descendants, and slaves, in an [...]
