Img. ID: 80747
The wooden Torah^case consists of a ten-faceted body and a coronet. A faceted annulet encircles the lower borders of the body. An ogee arch-shaped silver plaque is attached to both sides of the case's opening. Its upper part is decorated with a foliate pattern. It bears a dedicatory inscription.
וזאת ##התורה## הטהורה ## ווי עמדים כשורה ## אשר פעל ועשה ## היקר החשוב הר ## יעקב ג'נאח הי"ו בן ## אליהו נ"ע )נוחו עדן( נגמרא ## מלאכתו בחדש זיו ## המקדש שנת תר"ן
"And this is##the Torah ## the pure ## the hooks of the pillars (Ex.27.10) in a row ##hath wrought and done ## the dear and important Rabbi (int.) ## Jacob Gnah, may the Lord sustain and protect him (int.) son of ## Elijah may he rest in Eden (int.)## his work was finished in the month of the Ziv (the dedication of) the temple (=Iyar) year (5)650=(1890)"
The inscription on the left side is the same as on the right one. A silver floral base for a hook and clasp is attached on both sides of the opening, under the plaques. The inner face is plain wood. The hollow bottom has on a hand holder on the right side. The hollow top is decorated with rhomboids and circles. Two rods are at the top of the case. The coronet is ten-faceted. Each facet is decorated with symmetrical openwork of a floral pattern.
1. The dedication compares the Torah scroll to the Tabernacle in the desert and to Solomon's Temple. The inscription indicates that the dedicated Torah was written in a special layout, in which each of the written columns begins with the letter vav, and thus it is named Vavei Amudim, namely "the hooks of the pillars". The word vav in Hebrew has a double meaning; it is the sixth letter of the alphabet, and a hook. The term Vavei Amudim mentioned in the dedicatory inscription alludes to the structure of the Torah scroll as a representative of the hooks and columns which constructed the tent of the Tabernacle in the Desert. This layout tradition finds its origins in the 11th century in Eastern manuscripts (Sternthal, Humash Regensburg, 2008, pp. 8- 11, note. 22). It probably reflects a similar approach which compares the Torah (scroll or codex) to the Temple, naming it Mikdashiyah, namely "A Small Temple" or "The Lord's Temple". This was the prevalent name of Torah codex among the Karaites in the 10th century Egypt, and later among the Sephardi Jews in Spain (XXX). During the years the Vavei Amudim layout gained cabalistic interpretations and it may well be that the widespread tradition in Tunisia and Tripolitania, is derived from its cabalistic insinuations. Though a further research should be conducted, weather it also reflects an old tradition, which continues the eastern layout.
An additional allusion to the Temple is created by using the name Ziv for the month of Iyar, connecting between the date the Torah scroll and its case were accomplished, and the month when Solomon's Temple was founded: "In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the Lord laid, in the month Ziv: (I Kings 6:37).
The beginning of the dedication is a familiar linguistic formula and is frequently inscribed on dedications of Torah cases.