Miniature Torah Scroll. Magnificent rollers (atzei chaim) and original mantle. 19th century.
Description: Miniature Torah Scroll. Ink on parchment. Parchment width: 130 mm. The kashrut status has not been checked. Atzei Chaim: Silver, apparently without marks, 14 karat gold, old polished diamonds and emeralds. Length: 285 mm. The handles of the roller are smooth. Their upper section bears the [Hebrew] engraving: “Etz Chaim Hi” and “La’Machazikim Bah.” At the center there is a vase with a border of petals from which grows a gorgeous plant made of gold. Each plant has two groups of three large leaves and three large flowers, each set alternately with a diamond or an emerald. The upper section of the plant has two smaller flowers and a larger, different flower, made of two layers of leaves, which are also set with stones. Mantle: Cloth, silk? Apparently original. 40 mm. wide. 170 mm. long. Inner cloth lining. Nice embroidered flowers and leaves inside and out, matching the gold flowers at the top of the rollers.
Condition: Overall fine condition. The rollers are in very fine condition. Light blemishes to the mantle.
Magnificent breastplate for a Torah Scroll. Hallmarked silver. Vienna, 1867-1872.
Description: Length: 36 cm. Width: 32 cm. Hallmarks indicating maker and location. Hammerwork, boring and repousse. Most sections of the breastplate are gold plated. At the center are the Luchot HaBrit supported by impressive lions at the right and left. The upper section features a large, impressive crown. Delicate engraving: יצחק ב’ מנחם, on the cartouche in the bottom section. The breastplate is surrounded by decorative leaves and flowers. Craftsman’s work.
Condition: Very fine. The gold plating has been rubbed off in a number of places.
Chanuka menorah, silver with hallmarks. Berlin, 1804-1815
Description: Nice backplate menorah. Repousse and chasing. Two marks. Blurred maker’s mark. Maximal height: 13.5 cm. Width: 12.5 cm. Thickness: 70 cm. The front is engraved with rococo scrolls and shellwork. The body of the menorah is shaped like a rectangular box that is divided into eight compartments. Each compartment has a small, protruding tongue holding a small cylinder to support the wick. The compartments are covered by a hinged lid with floral engraving. The right side of the backplate bears a tall shamash, apparently not original. The Menorah stands on four triangular legs, decorated with leaves.
Background: This type of Menorah was designed according to the popular Frankfurt Menorahs of the 18th century. The different designs were created in workshops in Hanau, Franken and Schwaben, but their decorations and metalwork are more primitive than the ones created by the Frankfurt silversmiths. Refer to the catalogue of the Jewish Museum London, item 239, for a similar item.
Condition: Very fine.
Impressive finials for a Torah Scroll. Silver, Afghanistan, 19th century.
Description: Height 275 mm. Diameter 70 mm.
Pear shaped finials, decorated with repousse flowers and vegetation. Each finial has a hinge and clasp so that it can be opened and filled with fragrant leaves to glorify the mitzvah. The upper section bears chains with pendants that hang from a serrated dome. Similar chains with pendants hang from the center of the finial and the bottom of the pear. Altogether there are three rows of delicate chains creating a very impressive look for the finials.
Condition: Missing a number of chains. Light dents.
Finials. Silver, Morocco, 19th century.
Description: 280 mm. tall. 56 mm. diameter. Sections are gold plated. Each finial is shaped like a hexagonal tower with Islamic styled windows covered with a colorful cloth. Topped by a crest surrounded by six silver strips shaped like leaves. Bells hang from the corners of the tower. Repousse work of flowers and leaves across the entire surface of the tower and base.
Background: Similar bells can be seen in the Stieglitz Collection: Masterpieces of Jewish Art , published by the Israel Museum, p. 46.
Condition: Very fine. Light dents.
Eternal lamp for a synagogue. Hallmarked silver. Italy, c. 1740.
Description: Body of the lamp: 28 cm. Width: 17 cm. With chains and dome: Height: 64 cm. Silver eternal lamp for hanging, with decorative flowers and leaves. Nice floral border on the bottom of the lamp. Three rings protrude from the thicker section at center. They are attached to designed silver chains that hold the eternal flame and attach to one decorative dome.
Unique features: Engraving on the three sides at center of the lamp: חברה קדושה, של גמילות חסדים, שנת הת”ק [Chevra kedosha, shel gemilut chassadim, 1740].
Condition: Fine. Light blemishes to the flower on bottom of the lamp. The chains and dome are not original.
Synagogue hall in a glass bottle. Spectacular, folksy work by Mrs. Helena Hoffman, in memory of her husband. Rakasdia, 1888.
Unique features: This spectacular exhibit was handmade with intricate, delicate work and includes the smallest details – in the images of Moses and Aaron as well as the synagogue hall. Most of the details were made outside of the bottle and then inserted and positioned correctly through a rounded opening with a diameter of about 60 mm. This work demands both expertise and a light hand. When the work was finished, the opening was closed with a glass bottleneck and wood cork that cannot be opened. This work was made by Helene Hoffman in memory of her husband and apparently donated to the synagogue.
Specifications: [1] glass bottle with wood cork that cannot be opened . 14.5 cm. long, 10 cm. wide, Height until the neck – 25 cm., height including the cork 36 cm.
At center is a four-columned bimah with a Torah Scroll, candelabra and candles on the bimah. Moses stands at the right holding the Luchot HaBrit in his left hand and his staff in his right. Aaron the High Priest stands to the left of the bimah, lifting his hands in the priestly blessing. A Holy Ark is in the back with a red parochet bearing the text סעפער תארא [Torah Scroll].
The upper front section has a decorated arch with the Yiddish text: מיט אנד אלט אים טמפל, and parallel, in the back near the Holy Ark, is the text גאטט זיי מיט אונת.
A large star of David with the year 5648 at its center is on a red background o n the back of the bottle. A handwritten German dedication is o n the bottom : “Dise(!) Kunstflasche/ ist verfertigt am/ 1sten Juni 1888 zur/ Erinnerung des/ l. M. Hoffman/ t. Gattin Helene/ Rakasdia.” [This artistic bottle was created on the 1st of June, 1888, in memory of M. Hoffman, his wife Helene, Rakasdia.]
There is a note with a few words that have not been deciphered on the inside of the bottom of the bottle .
Condition: Other than aging stains and some dirt in the interior of the bottle, everything is in very fine condition.
Pair of candlesticks and a spice box – silver hallmarked 925 with the maker’s mark, made by Oded Davidson, modern Judaica.
Description: Bored and engraved with many assorted elements integrating animal characters from daily life with scenes from the scriptures, in the style of the Ilya Schor’s works. Wood base. There are images of children dancing in a circle at the head of each candlestick, on the panels there are twelve squares with cherubic images, fish (symbolizing fertility), a kiddush goblet, Torah scrolls and flowers. Above them there are scenes around wells and children playing with a rope and ball. Flowers and leaves at the base. Each candlestick is comprised of three separate sections, each one with a hallmark. The upper section of the candlestick can be pulled out so that the upper base can be used for small candles, and when it is pulled out, there is an empty space in the body of the candlestick for placing longer candles.
Both candlesticks are 18 cm. tall; their base has a diameter of 9 cm.; and the candlestick, 5 cm.
With a matching spice box, shaped like a pyramid. Silver hallmarked 925 with a maker’s mark. The panels feature various scenes of Adam holding different things, leaves and flowers. Underneath the base there is a small door for the spices. Base: 4×5 cm. Height: 11 cm.
Condition: Very fine.
Large, magnificent Mezuzah case. ג’טה דל מזוזה, Algeria. End of the 19th century.
Description: Repousse silver plate attached to a thick wood plate with nails. The back section of the plate has a carved space for placing a mezuzah that is 11 cm. long. The plate measures 25.5 cm. It is 14 cm. wide. The wood frame is 29 cm. long and has a maximal width of 18 cm. At center of the mezuzah case there is a seven-stemmed menorah with a pitcher of oil at its feet, utensils used for wicks – scissors, tongs – and three stone steps. On the right and left of the menorah base, there are hands spread out in the priestly blessing. The frame is decorated with leaves and flowers. Hash-m’s name at the top. All artisan work.
Background: Refer to Jewish Life in Morocco, Aviva Muller-Lancet (editor), Israel Museum, 1983 p. 60.
Condition: Fine-very fine. Light crack in the wooden frame.
Spice Tower – silver marked “N” [Nuremberg, but actually Hanau] and other silver marks.
Description: Height: 22 cm. Width: 5 cm. Silver, engraved, bored and sawed. Square tower with two levels. One level has four turrets with flags on its corners, a “porch” with a lattice gate, a flag-bearing turret at its head, windows, a door that opens for spices. Decorations shaped like a brick wall. One of the panels has an engraved sundial.
Background: This creative tower is styled like that of famed artisan J. Rimonim. For similar spice towers, refer to The Stieglitz Collection: Masterpieces of Jewish Art , Chaya Benjamin, catalog #72 and Jewish Tradition in Art: The Feuchtwanger Collection of Judaica, Yeshaya Shachar, catalog #238.
Condition : Fine. The flags are twisted and bent.
Impressive, magnificent case for a Torah Scroll – wood with gilded silver plate , with finials. Iraq [1871] .
Description: Silver plates repousse with magnificent designs of flowers and leaves, two silver clasps. Text around the upper section [repousse]: “This case and the Torah scroll within it were made by Simchah, wife of Shlomo Mussa, in 1871.” There are a pair of gilded, silver finials with chains of bells at the top of case. Chains of bells [some of the chains are missing] are at the top of the crown. The wood on the interior of the case is painted with leaf designs on a red background.
The case is 105 cm. tall. The finials are 18 cm. tall.
Unique features: This especially magnificent case was made by an artisan, apparently commissioned by one of the wealthiest Iraqi families.
Condition: Fine. Light repairs and few dents.
Rare miniature case for a Torah Scroll, Torah Scroll, with matching finials and pointer. Iraq, c. 1900.
Description: The Case: Wood plated with silver – repousse work with decorative leaves and flowers. At the top there is a shape of a crown with chains and bells hanging at their ends. On the margins of the case, around its head, there are orange coral stones hanging on metal threads that surround it from end to end. Silver clasps. The case is 39 cm. tall. The Torah Scroll: Complete Torah Scroll. Nice scribal hand. Ink on special thin parchment. Height: 14.5 cm. Height of text: 10.8 cm. 2-3 new replacement strips of parchment. Finials: Two small matching silver finials hang on the sides of the case. Delicate floral engraving across their surface. Height: 13 cm. Pointer: Original, decorated silver pointer. Length: 14 cm.
Unique features: Iraqi Jewry produced magnificent Torah cases, however, gorgeous cases in such a small size are extremely uncommon. A similar case is located in the collection of the Babylonian Heritage Center.
Condition: Fine. Light repairs to the case. Missing a pair of memorial plates that should be attached to the interior. 2-3 strips of parchment have been replaced. Some repairs to a few strips. The kashrut status of the Scroll has not been checked.
Pair of wooden doors for a Holy Ark, magnificent carvings – lions, rams and birds. Poland, c. 1800.
Description: Each door measures 127×33 cm. Maximum thickness [width of the sculpture]: 10 cm. Especially wide woodcuts, in baroque style. On each door, there are three carved birds, a very large ram in the center and a lion on the bottom. Painted by hand in gold, brown [frame] and a green background. The lions are holding onto a scroll, which are etched with the words of the verse in Psalms 19:8 [in Hebrew]: Torat Hash-m Temimah, Meshivat Nafesh. “Torat Hash-m” is featured on one door and “Temimah” on the second.
Unique features: Wood vestiges from synagogues in Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and Russia are especially rare. Though they were designed by prominent Jewish wood artisans (Simcha son of Shlomo Weiss, Hillel Binyamin of Lask and others) and were the peak of architectural design, and despite the fact that there were thousands of synagogues in these areas – they were the first to burn during pogroms and wars. During the Nazi occupation, the last remnants of these synagogues were burned by the Nazis or the raging local populations.
This is a rare, impressive vestige of a Jewish wood artisan work from the 18th-19th century. Museum piece.
This set of doors has appeared in documentary literature: The Art of World Religions, Judaism , in the series of plates following p. 106. Guide to Jewish Art , 1989, p. 43. Illustrated in Jewish Art , 1977, on the back cover of the catalog.
Regarding animal images in wood arks of Polish synagogues, refer to BiShvilei Amanut Yehudit, by Yaakov Finkerfeld, Hotzaot Sifriyat Poalim, art column 1957, p. 26-29.
Condition: Fine-very fine. The paint on the doors has faded and peeled in a number of places over the years and has been restored. A small amount of peeling paint.
Personal shtender (lectern) used by Rabbi Michel Yehudah Lefkowitz for decades.
Unique features: This is Rabbi Michel Yehudah Lefkowitz’s first shtender, which he used for Torah study and prayers for dozens of years.
Description: Height: 100 cm. Width: 46 cm. The shtender is made of wood, with simple carpentry, the various parts are joined with nails.
Rabbi Michel Yehudah Lefkowitz [1913-2011] was a leader of the Lithuanian “Yeshiva” community. He was a prominent disciple of the Chazon Ish, a member of Degel HaTorah’s Council of Torah Sages, and Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezh L’Tzeirim. He learned in the Chevron Yeshiva in his youth, and was very close to its Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Yechezkel Sarna, and the Mashgiach, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Chasman. While he learned in the Chevron yeshiva, he enjoyed a close relationship with Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, regularly attending his lectures on Seder Kadshim, and even learning with him once a week. A short time later, he began studying with the Chazon Ish, who was his matchmaker. After his marriage, he was appointed lecturer in Yeshivat Tiferet Tzion, where his students included Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, Rabbi Meir Tzvi Bergman and Rabbi Dov Tzvi Karlenstein. At times, the Chazon Ish would attend his lectures and listen raptly to his words. After the Chazon Ish passed away, the lecture moved to a participant’s home where it continued for about fifty years straight. In the beginning of the 1950s, Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman founded Yeshiva Ponevezh L’Tzeirim and appointed Rabbi Michel Yehudah at its helm, along with Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman. Rabbi Lefkowitz gave lectures for about sixty years and taught thousands of students, including famous rabbis, rosh yeshivas and Torah scholars. He passed away on the 26th of Sivan, 2011, on the yahrtzeit of his father-in-law, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Gershonowitz.
Condition: Moderate. The left panel is loose. The wood is peeling. Along with a letter of authenticity from the family.
Etrog container. Stamped silver MSS STERLING. Made by the artist Michael Strauss. America, 1980s.
An oval silver container on a round stand. Hinged cover with an engraving of the words ”
pri etz hadar (the fruit of the citrus tree).” Gentle hammer work over all of the box and the cover.
The artist Michael Strauss began to make and market high-quality Judaica products in New York in 1983. Weight 0.479 kg. 16×11 cm.
Very fine condition.
Beautiful Ner Tamid synagogue lamp, bronze and gilded copper. Italy, 18th century.
The base’s height is approximately 15 cm, total height is 54 cm, maximum diameter is 14 cm.
Artistic decorations of leaves to the the body of the lamp, surrounded by Jewish reliefs of the Decalogue, the Priestly blessing and the jug of oil (the glass cup for the oil is missing). Three original chains which are made up of links and three straps extend from the lamp and attach to the upper dome. Above the dome is a ring for hanging. With an additional ring on the bottom part of the lamp.
All of the parts are original and in fine-very fine condition.
Decorated copper tray. The binding of Isaac. Persia 20th century.
Round copper tray. Artisan hammer and engraving work. Diameter: 52 cm.
Hebrew text: Akeidat Yitzchak. Figures, animals, birds and flowers.
Fine condition.
Round, decorated copper tray “Zikaron Eretz Yisrael” (Souvenir of the Land of Israel)’. Persia, 20th Century.
Decorated copper tray. Artisan work, hammer and engraving. Diameter 52 cm.
Text in Hebrew and Arabic. Animal figures and flowers.
Fine condition.
Copper Seder Plate. Persia, 20th century.
Round plate with engraved “simanim” of the Seder and decorations. Diameter: 53 cm.
Traces of silver plating, dents and slight repairs. Fine condition.
Small, thick, blue-purple glass cup with handmade colored leaf decorations. Decorative border with the words כוס של פסח in gold at center.
7 cm. tall. 5.5 cm. diameter. The letters are slightly faded. Fine-very fine condition.
Large, heavy bronze oil lamp. Germany, Poland? 19th century.
Menorah made of bronze with a hook. Six arms at the base for oil, forming a star shape. A large eagle at the top and an original plate to catch oil drips.
65 cm. tall. Maximal diameter of 29 cm.
Signs of corrosion. Fine condition.
Kiddush cup. Hallmarked silver. Germany, Nürnberg.
12 cm. tall, maximal diameter of 7 cm. Artistic engraving on one side: זכור את יום השבת לקדשו and floral and leaf engravings.
Very fine condition.
Pair of matching Kiddush cups. Hallmarked silver. Delicate artisanal engravings over the entire surface. Russia, beginning of the 20th century.
Each cup is 7.5 cm. tall and has a 6 cm. diameter. Engraved flowers and border surrounding Jerusalem homes and the Western Wall. Hallmarked 84 Kokoshnik, Moscow, and maker’s marks.
Very light dents. Fine condition.
Kiddush cup. Repousse and engravings. Hallmarked. Germany. Nürnberg, [1761].
11.5 cm. tall, maximal diameter of 6.5 cm. Hexagon-shaped cup with a rounded, raised decorated base. Nice engraving on its side: זכור את יום השבת לקדשו תקכ”א and decorative flowers and leaves.
3 hallmarks on the base: 13, N and another one.
Very fine condition.
