Obj. ID: 10922
Sacred and Ritual Torah mantle, Thessaloniki (Salonika)
The trapezoid Torah mantle comprises a cloak attached to a round top and has a vertical back opening. It is decorated on its central upper front with a crown flanked by the Hebrew initials: "The crown of Torah" (based on Avot 4:13). Below the crown is a wreath made up of two foliate branches bound by a ribbon, creating a roundel, which encloses a dedicatory inscription. The Hebrew dedication is inscribed in square, filled letters, which reads:
"קדש לה'/ מהמנוח החה"ש (החכם השלם) כה"ר (כבוד הרב)/ חיים ש' עמר נ"ע (נוחו עדן) נדב מחיים/ לק"ק (לקהל קדוש) סיסילייה ח (דש) יע"א (יכוננה עליון אמן) ש התרנג תנצבה (תהא נשמתו צרורה בצרור החיים)."
"Dedicated to the Lord by the late wise faithful honourable Rabbi Hayim Sh. Amar, may he rest in Eden. The donation was made during his lifetime to the New Sicilian Holy Congregation (see: Remarks: no. 1), may the Lord establish it Amen, in the year 5653 (1893). May his soul be bound in the bond of life."
The round top has two openings for the Torah staves. A fringed strip surrounds the top and bottom edges of the cloak.
Online collection of the ritual objects from the E. Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute is available here: http://cbj.jhi.pl/collections/964689
- It is traditionally believed that the New Sicilian Holy Congregation was established in 1562, by members of the Old Synagogue, who originated in Sicily. However, there is no historical evidence for this belief. Nevertheless, the synagogue was reestablished after the great fire of 1917, which destroyed most synagogues in the city (cf. Messinas, The Synagogues, p. 61; Kerem, Salonika, p. 201, 202).
- The mantle dates to 1893, and therefore was manufactured before the the fire of 1917. It is most probably the only remnant of the synagogue's objects before the fire, and after the Holocaust.
- The mantle is made up of a rectangular cloth, imitating a traditional cushion cover. Yet, unlike most mantles in the collection, this mantle was originally made for this purpose but sewn as if it is a secondary use of a cushion cover, adjusted to be a mantle. The fine work and abundant decoration attest to the economical situation of the donours, who most probably were wealthy people who could afford a special work dedicated to the synagogue.
sub-set tree: 
Cloth: purple silk velvet
Lining: even twill cotton
Top: silk velvet
Decoration: gold threads in laid and couched embroidery
Foundation: cardboard
Inscription: gold threads in laid and couched embroidery, filling stitches
Additions: machine-made fringed strip
Width: 860 mm
Diameter: 190 mm
Intact
A collection of ritual objects was confiscated from the Greek Jews when they were sent toAuschwitzduring World War II. This Torah mantle was transferred to the Jewish Historical Institute (JHI) directly fromAuschwitz, in 1948.
Brzewska, Iwona and Magdalena Sieramska, "Catalogue," in The Museum of the Jewish Historical Institute: Arts and Crafts (Warsaw: Auriga Wydawnictwa Artystyczne I Filmowe, 1995).
Kerem, Yitzchak, and Bracha Rivlin, "Salonika" In Pinkas Hakehillot: Encycloapedia of Jewish Communities from their Foundation till after the Holocaust: Greece. Ed. By Bracha Rivlin ( Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1998).
Messinas, Elias. The Synagogues of Salonika and Veroia. (Athens: Gavrielides Editions, 1997)