Home
   Under Reconstruction!
Object Alone

Obj. ID: 1280
Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts
  Vienna Siddur-SeMaK, Lake Constance, 14th century

© Center for Jewish Art, Photographer: Unknown,
Summary and Remarks

 The Vienna Siddur-SeMaK is a lavishly decorated codex of small dimensions, containing the text of the Siddur, a halakhic work titled Sefer Mitzvot Katan (Small Book of Precepts), commonly known by the acronym SeMaK, and a calendar. The manuscript was produced in the first quarter of the 14th century in Southern Germany in the region of Lake Constance.

The section of the Siddur contains the daily prayers and prayers for the holidays, as well as many piyyutim (liturgical hymns) most of which follow the Ashkenazi custom and especially the custom practiced in Worms (for example, fol. 85 “אלהים ביתה מושיב יחידים” Davidson I, no. 4686, p. 215; Goldshmidt, Mahzor for Shavuot, p. 37). The Siddur also includes a Book of Customs, which deals with issues of daily Jewish life and laws of prayer, recording mainly the customs of Worms and Meinz. Among the Rabbis mentioned in this book are: R. Meir bar Isaac, R. Isaac Halevi, R. Joseph Tov Elem, R. Isaac bar Judah, Avi Ha’ozri, R. Nathan, R. Eleazar ha-Gadol, R. Eliezer of Worms. Most of these Rabbis lived either in Worms or in Meinz. The Book of Customs also mentions the essays Sefer Basar al Gehalim and Sefer Barzuli (Schwarz, 1925, No. 88, p. 89).

According to Shalev-Eyni (Jews among Christians, in Print), despite the Ashkenazi practice of this period to recite the familiar daily prayers by heart, many people also began to use a personal individual siddur - the daily prayer book for the entire year. In keeping with their personal nature, these siddurim tended to be of small size, as is evidenced by our small codex.

The second part of the manuscript consists of the “SeMaK,” also known as Sefer Amudei Golah (Book of Diaspora Columns), a treatise compiled by the tosaphist Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil in France before 1280. In this treatise, the author detailed all the precepts practiced in his time, together with moral lessons and texts from the Aggadah. His work was based on the Sefer Mitzvot Gadol (Great Book of Precepts), written by Rabbi Moshe of Coucy in the 13th century, from which Rabbi Isaac omitted the extensive halakhic discussion in order to adapt it for use as a general guide. The combination of Rabbi Isaac’s halakhic work with the regular liturgical prayer book (the siddur), which is paralleled in other codices of the period (e.g. Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Mich. Add. 41), is explained by Isaac of Corbeil's in his introduction to his book, where he explains that he arranged the precepts in seven parts against the seven days of the week so that each person might read from them one part every day. Rabbi Isaac wished to turn the daily reading of the precepts into a regular practice, and in order to bestow validity on this practice, he even attempted to establish a special blessing for it. The reading of the precepts in the SeMaK on a daily basis, together with the accompanying blessing, imparts an individual ritual quality to this halakhic work, in keeping with the association between it and the siddur to which it is attached.

Rabbi Isaac attempted to bring about a wide dissemination of his work. In order to expedite its distribution, he devised a plan of action which adapted the system that had been developed at the time for copying texts for study. He planned to furnish the sextons of the congregations with exemplars, who would then finance the copying from the synagogue purse and encourage further copying by the members of the community, free of charge.

Rabbi Isaac expanded his target audience to include not only the male population but the women as well, as he

included in his text also the precepts which women were accustomed to fulfill.  Rabbi Isaac's plan did indeed achieve

the desired results, and, as early as the final decades of the thirteenth century and throughout the fourteenth

century, this work was widely reproduced inFranceand inGermanyand can be found in most collections of Hebrew

manuscripts. We know of approximately 120 copies surviving from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and

another 60 surviving from the 15-16 centuries (Sternthal, Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts, p. 14).

The SeMaK is copied twice in the Vienna manuscript (see Contents). The first copy of the SeMaK includes only R. Isaac’s text, while the second copy contains in addition also the commentary written by R. Perez ben Elijah of Corbeil (d. c.1295) who was R. Isaac’s pupil (Schwarz, 1925, No. 88, p. 89).

The manuscript includes a colophon on fol. 141, near the end of the siddur and close to the beginning of the SeMaK, stating that Menahem son of Eliezer copied a Siddur and a Book of Precepts for Rabbi Meir son of Rabbi Asher Halevi. Rabbi Meir bar Asher Halevi, patron of the Vienna Siddur-SeMaK lived in the town of Überlingen, on the northern banks of Lake Constance (Sternthal, Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts, pp. 13-15). This fact we learn from a deed relating to the sale of a vineyard found in the Main County Archives of Kalsruhe, no. 3/188, which was written and signed in Constance in 1332 (Friedenberg, Jewish Seals, pp. 164-168 (No. 78 on pp. 167-168). The patron's common name, Mayer Aenseli, is mentioned in the document as one of three Überlingen Jews who sold a vineyard to a citizen of their town.[1] The document bears a seal shaped like a shield enclosing three Jewish hats (a common motif in Jewish seals of that period) surrounded by his name in Hebrew, "Meir bar Asher Halevi". From this document we learn of Meir’s high economic status. As a wealthy land owner, who probably enjoyed close connections with the upper classes of the Christian residents of the Lake Constance area, he could well afford to be the patron of a sumptuous manuscript such as the Vienna Siddur-SeMaK. This document strengthens the assumption that this manuscript was produced on the banks of Lake Constance in the first quarter of the fourteenth century.

The scribe signed his name again on fol. 151v after the first SeMaK and it is possible that he also signed his name at the end of the manuscript, but this part of the manuscript is missing. Unfortunately, a date and a place are not mentioned in either of the colophons. We do not know of other manuscripts copied by this scribe, although in the past some scholars pointed to the close similarity between the script of the Vienna Siddur-SeMaK and the script found in two other well-known Hebrew manuscripts, both copied by a scribe named Menahem: the Bird’s Head Haggadah ca. 1300 (Jerusalem, Israel Museum 180/57) and the Leipzig Mahzor (Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek MS. 1102/I-II) ca. 1320, both executed in South Germany. However, despite the similarities, according to a palaeographic comparison these were not written by the scribe of the Vienna Siddur-SeMaK (Narkiss, Mahzor Lipsiae, pp. 85-110; Shalev-Eyni, Tripartite Mahzor, p. 25). It was also suggested that the Vienna Siddur-SeMaK should be compared to the Bible copied in 1302 (Cod. Hebr. 11; Schwarz, 1925, No. 14), both bearing the colophon by the scribe מנחם בן אליעזר  (Menahem ben Eliezer), but their square Ashkenazi script is definitely different.

It seems that the scribe who added the calendar on fols. 152v-154 is Elazar ben Jacob, called Zalman of שוטיגורא (Perhaps Stuttgart), as identified by the Hebrew Palaeography Project J24. This scribe also copied other manuscripts, e.g. Chronicle (גלגול בני חושים), Germany, after 1421 (Frankfurt a Main - Stadt- und Universitaetsbibliothek Oct. 94; Hebrew Palaeography Project G84) and an autographic halakhic and midrashic treatise, North Italy?, 1468-1470 (Vienna, ÖNB, Cod. Hebr. 175; Schwarz, 1925, No. 77; Hebrew Palaeography Project J26). The scribe of the calendar was probably also responsible for the additions of the text on fol. 31 of our Vienna Siddur-SeMaK.

The decoration of the manuscript was executed in two stages. The first stage of illumination is in the style of the late thirteenth - early fourteenth century Lake Constance School, and the second stage of illumination is in the Northern Italian style of the second half of the fifteenth century, where it was added by the well-known scribe–artist Joel Ben Simeon.

The decoration of the first stage is very similar to other illuminated Hebrew manuscripts produced in the Lake Constance School, researched in great detail by Shalev-Eyni ((Shalev-Eyni, Jews among Christians, In Print). Of this School of production remain 6 manuscripts: our Vienna Siddur-SeMaK; a small Bible, which until recently was housed in the Schocken Library in Jerusalem (MS. 14840); the Duke of Sussex Pentateuch from the first quarter of the 14th century (London, B.L. Add. 15282); and three volumes of the Tripartite Mahzor from c. 1322 (Shalev-Eyni, Tripartite Mahzor, p. 1; first volume in Budapest, Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Kaufmann Collection, MS A 384, second volume in London, B.L. Add. 22413, and the third in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Mich. 619). According to palaeographic, codicologic and stylistic analyses these four manuscripts are dated closely to each other and originate from the same workshop, although none of them is precisely dated. The similarities between the Duke of Sussex Pentateuch and the Vienna SeMaK led scholars to suggest that not only were both manuscripts illuminated in the same workshop but possibly even by the same artist. The first set of panels in the Tripartite Mahzor seem to have been produced later and it is probable that the Vienna SeMaK or a similar manusript served as its model (Shalev-Eyni, Tripartite Mahzor, pp. 251 and 253).

The Hebrew manuscripts of the Lake Constance School are characterized by initial words written within full-page and part-page panels, employing an identical repertoire of elements from Gothic architecture such as dome-covered turrets, arches, and trefoil gables with leaf-like shapes arranged along the ribs and tops (e.g. fols. 1v, 37, 41, 45, 154v, 163, 179v, 192v 214v, 244v, 256v of the Vienna Siddur-SeMaK; fols. 10, 17, 33v, 41v, 86v, 92v, 105 of the Schocken Bibleand fols. 238, 302, 307v of the Duke of Sussex Pentateuch). Other features characterizing this group are the many animals, birds and hybrids adorning the panels. Also typical are the grotesque human figures decorating the initial word panels. They are short and fat and have elongated fingers and are usually depicted in profile with their eyes wide-open as can be seen for example on fol. 1v of the Vienna Siddur-SeMaK and 179v of the Duke of Sussex Pentateuch. In many cases the figures fight each other as is evident on fol. 1v and 214v of the Vienna Siddur-

Remarks

32 image(s)

sub-set tree:

Name/Title
Vienna Siddur-SeMaK | Unknown
Object Detail
Monument Setting
Unknown
Date
1st quarter of the 14th century; Additions in the second half of the 15th century
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Origin
Germany | Lake Constance (Bodensee) Area
Italy | Northern Italy
| ; Additions in Northern Italy
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Congregation
Unknown
Site
Unknown
Period
Unknown
Period Detail
Collection
Austria | Vienna | Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (ÖNB)
| Cod. Hebr. 75 (Schwarz No. 88)
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Iconographical Subject
Unknown |
Textual Content
Unknown |
Languages of inscription
Unknown
Shape / Form
Unknown
Material / Technique
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
Height
Length
Width
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition
Good. Restored in the 18th century.
Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
Present Usage
Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents
The manuscript includes a Siddur (fols. 1v-140v); SeMaK (Sefer Mitzvot Katan) Small Book of Precepts by R. Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil (fols. 142v-152; 154v-274v, end is missing) and a later addition of a calendar, by Elazar Zalman ben Jacob (fols. 152v-154). Punctuated siddur for the entire year: (fols. 1v-140v) Daily Prayer (fols. 1v-19v): Daily Shaharit (fols. 1v-17v), including tahanun (fols. 14-16v); Arvit for weekdays and Sabbaths (fol. 17v-19v). Sabbath (fols. 19v-26v): Bameh madlikin (fols. 19v-20), shaharit, beginning with Nishmat (fols. 20-21), Torah reading (fols. 22v-23), musaf (fols. 23v-25), Minhah and Arvit for Saturday night (fols. 25-26), Havdalah: (fols. 26-26v). New Moon: (fols. 26v-27), Musaf for the Sabbath of the New Moon: (fols. 27v-28). Purim: (fols. 28-29). Ninth of Av and minor fasts: (fol. 29). Circumcision: (fols. 29-29v). Marriage: (fols. 29v-30). The Three Pilgrimage Festivals: Amidah: (fols. 30v-31), Musaf (fols. 31-33). Burial service: (fols. 33-33v). Bettering of a dream: (fol. 34). Kedushah insertions: (fols. 34v-35v). Passover Haggadah: (fols. 36-44). Tractate Avot: (fols. 45-53v). New Year (fols. 53v-58v): Amidah (fols. 53v-56), Musaf (fols. 56-58v). Day of Atonement (fols. 58v-65v): Minhah for the eve of (fols. 58v-60), Amidah (fols. 60-62), Musaf (fols. 62-63v), Ne’ilah (fols. 63v-65v). Hoshanot: (fols. 66-72v). Simhat Torah (fols. 72v-77v): Shaharit: (fols. 72v-74v), reshut for Hatan Torah (fols. 75-75v), reshut for Hatan Bereshit (fols. 75-77v). Passover (fols. 78-84v): first night (fols. 78-80), second night (fols. 80-82), seventh night (fols. 82-83v), eighth night (fols. 83v-84v). Shavu'ot (fols. 84v-86v): first night (fols. 84v-85), second night (fols. 85-86v). New Year (fols. 86v-87v): first night (fols. 86v-87), second night (fols. 87-87v). Sukkot (87v-91v): first night (fols. 87v-88), second night (fols. 88-89), eighth night (fols. 89v-91v). Yozrot and Zulatim (hymns) for the entire year (fols. 92-116): Yozer for Shabbat Bereshit (Davidson I, no. 3945 p. 182, fols. 92-93v), Yozrot for Shabbat Rosh Hodesh: (fols. 93v-95v), Circumcision Shabbat: (fols. 95v-97v), krovaz for bridegroom: (fols. 97v-101), zulat for marriage: (Davidson I, no. 5573, p. 254, fols. 101-102),rashuyot for bridegroom: (fols. 102-104), Yozer for Shabbat Hafsakah: (fols. 104-105), zulatot for the days between Passover and Shavuot: (fols. 105-111v), Yozer for Shabbat Nahamu: (fols. 111v-113), Yozer for the day of Repentance: (fols. 113-115), Yozer for the intermediary days of Sukkot: (fols. 115-116). Torah readings for Sabbaths: (fols. 116-120v). Festival Torah reading: (fols. 120v-123v). Book of Customs for the entire year (Sefer Minhagim): (fols. 123v-133). Hymn of Unity (shir hayihud) for each of the seven days of the week: (fols. 133v-141). A fifteenth century addition of Hymn of Glory (An'im Zemirot) (fols. 141-141v). SeMaK (Sefer Mitzvot Katan), Small Book of Precepts by R. Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil Table of contents: (fols. 142v-152); Preface for the SeMaK (fol. 152). Calendar added in 1468 (fols. 152v-154): Golden Table (fol. 153v), R. Nahshon`s circle (fol. 154). SeMaK (Sefer Mitzvot Katan), Small Book of precepts of R. Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil with the commentary by R. Peretz ben Elijah of Corbeil ((הגהות הרי"ף (fols. 154v-274v): First chapter (fols. 154v-162), second chapter (fols. 163-179), third chapter (fols. 179v-192), fourth chapter (fols. 192v-214), fifth chapter (fols. 214v-244), sixth chapter (fols. 244v-256), seventh chapter (fols. 256v-274v). This chapter is incomplete, ending after precept number 317.
Codicology

Material:

Thin parchment, I (pasted to a marble fly leaf of a later binding) + 274 + I (pasted to a marble fly leaf of a later binding) leaves.

Differences between hair and flesh sides are hardly discernable. In most cases the quires start on the flash side (when the differences between the sides are seen).

 

Measurements

Full page: 190 X (140-145) mm

Text space: Siddur (fols. 2-140v): 125X(80-85) mm

 SeMaK (fols. 155-247v): 127X(85-87) mm

 

 

Scribes

Multi scribes:

Scribe A: Main scribe: Menahem ben Eliezer

Siddur and SeMaK

fols. 2-140v and 142V-152, 154v-247v

Scribe B: A later hand (15th century)

Hymn of Glory

fols. 141-141v

Scribe C: Elazar Zalman ben Jacob (1468)

Calendar

fols. 152v-154

 

Script

Scribe A: Till middle of first column of fol. 116 written in square Ashkenazi script, with instructions in semi-cursive Ashkenazi script, in dark brown ink. From fol. 116 on in semi-cursive Ashkenazi script in dark brown ink.

Scribe B: fols. 141-141v written in semi-cursive Italian script.

Scribe C: fols. 152v-154 written in semi-cursive Italian script. (fols. 153v-154 are written in alternating black and red ink).

 

Number of lines

Siddur (fols. 1v-140v):

written in 30 lines in two columns of 35 mm each

SeMaK  (fols. 142v-152, 154v-274):

written in 35 lines in three columns of 25 mm each

 

Ruling

Siddur (fols. 1v-140v): ruling by plummet 31 horizontal lines and 2+2+2 vertical lines.

SeMaK  (fols. 142v-152, 154v-274): ruling by plummet 36 horizontal lines and 2+2+2+2 vertical lines.

 

Pricking

Siddur (fols. 1v-140v): pricking is evident in the inner margins only.

SeMaK (fols. 142v-152, 154v-274): pricking is evident in all margins.

 

Quires

28 quires of 12 leaves each (fols. 1 and 12 of the first quire are single leaves), except for III11(6+5) (fol. 25 is a widow, no text is missing), VIII-XIII8, XIV10, XVIII-XX8 and XXII-XXIII8, XXVII3 (single leaves), XXVIII6(3+3) (missing text).

 

Catchwords

Catchwords to the quires written vertically in script identical to the text in the lower left hand corner of the final verso (e.g. fol. 24v).

 

Hebrew numeration

Remnants of Hebrew alphabet numeration appear at the top left corner of the some versos (e.g. fols. 205 to 263).

 

Blank leaves

Fols. 22r, 44v and 142r are blank.

Fol. 141v and fols. 152v-154 originally blank leaves, which in the 15th century were filled with text.

 

Binding

Scribes
Script
Number of Lines
Ruling
Pricking
Quires
Catchwords
Hebrew Numeration
Blank Leaves
Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
Coin
Coin Series
Coin Ruler
Coin Year
Denomination
Signature
Colophon
Colophons by the scribe Menahem ben Eliezer: First colophon: fol. 141, at the end of the Siddur, written in square Ashkenazi script in dark brown ink. סיימתי התפילות מכל השנה/ והספר המצות עם התפילות/ לר' מאיר בר אשר הלוי המקום / יזכהו הוא וזרעו וזרע זרעו עד/ סוף כל הדורות אמן אמן אמן/ סלה/ חזק ונתחזק מנחם בהר' [בן הרב] אליעזר/ הכותב לא יוזק לא היום ולא/ לעולם עד שיעלה חמור בסולם “I, Menahem son of Eliezer, completed this book of prayers and precepts for Rabbi Meir Ben Asher Halevi. The scribe will not be harmed, not today and not forever, until a donkey climbs up a ladder“. Second colophon: fol. 151v on the lower half of the page in square Ashkenazi script: חזק ונתחזק מנחם הכותב/לא יוזק לא היום ולא לעולם/ עד שיעלה חמור בסולם “Strength and be strong Menahem the scribe will not be harmed, not today and not forever until a donkey climbs up a ladder”. Fol. 162, in the intercolumnar space in the lower part of the second column of the SeMaK next to the text “Rabbi Menahem bar Shmuel” is a flower drawn in ink marking the word Menahem.
Scribal Notes
Scribal notes A. Notes by the scribe Menahem ben Eliezer: Fol. 155v, in the upper margin, at the beginning of the SeMak text, the scribe wrote in semi-cursive script: ו (במזל טוב בעזרת ה' נעשה ונצליח)“ בטב גדא בינ ”With good luck in the name of the Lord, let us do and thrive”. Many scribal notes indicating the end of a section and the beginning of another one appear in the siddur (e.g. fols. 36, 53, 77, 91v, 11v, 113, 116, 120v, 124). For example: fol. 53 in the bottom of the page, in semi-cursive Gothic script the scribe wrote: סליק מסכת אבות שבח לרוכב בערבות/אתחיל תפילות של ראש השנה “I finished tractate Avot, thanks to him that rideth upon the heavens [Psalms 68: 4], I will start the prayers for New Year.” Fol. 163, in the upper margin flanking the top of the initial word panel to the second chapter of the SeMaK the scribe wrote in square Ashkenazi script: נשלם יום אחד/שבח לאל המיוחד // יוצרי יצליחני/ במצות יום שני “The first day is completed, thanks to God, may my creator help me with the second day’s precepts". This inscription repeated in different words at the end of every day of the SeMaK in semi-cursive script (e.g. fols. 179, 214, 244, 256) except for the end of the seventh day which is missing. B. Notes by the Italian Scribe of the Calendar of 1468 (identified by the Hebrew Palaeography Project J24, as Elazar ben Jacob, called Zalman of שוטיגורא (Perhaps Stuttgart) ; fols. 152v-154, see Remarks below): The first year which appears in the Calendar is רכ"ח (1468). The dateרכ"ח (1468) is also mentioned in several places in the text: On fol. 154, above the table: ... והדוגמא כמו עתה רכ"ח לפרט ... "… and for example the year as is now 5228 (1468) …" Below the table and in the following page is written: ובכל שנה ושנה תכתוב פרטך אצל הלוח כמו שעשיתי האידנא רכח לפרט ג' שנים למחזור רע"ו ולא תשגה "And every year you should write the proper details in the table, as I did in this year רכח, which is the 3rd of the cycle רע"ו (=276) [which is the year 1468]".
Watermark
Hallmark
Group
Group
Group
Group
Group
Trade Mark
Binding

18th (?) century brown leather binding. Spine is divided into 5 sections by four high bands, each decorated by gold tooling of a floral pattern. Marble paper pastedown and pasted to front and back paper fly leaves.

 

Decoration Program

The decoration was executed in two stages. The first stage was done in the Lake Constance School of Illumination in the first quarter of the 14th century.  The second stage was added in by the well-known scribe-artist Joel ben Simeon in Northern Italy during the second half of the 15th century, to the Siddur section only.

Stage A:

I. Two full-page initial word panels framed by Gothic arch, serving as frontispieces for the Siddur (fol.

1v) and the SeMaK (fol. 154v). Both include at the center burnished gold initial words set within a smaller panel. At the bottom of the first panel (fol. 1v) is a large medallion with two confronting grotesques; the bottom of the second panel (fol. 154v) is filled with heraldic animals within lozenges

II.  Nine part-page large initial word panels for the opening sections of the Siddur and the SeMaK (fols:

37, 41, 45, 163, 179v, 192v, 214v, 244v, 256v), one including a text illustration (fol. 256v). The part-page framed by Gothic architectural elements enclosing at the centre a smaller panel with gold initial words on coloured ground. These smaller panels are surrounded by hybrids and dragons (fols. 37, 41, 214v, 244v, 256v), heraldic animals within lozenges (fols. 45, 179v) or medallions (fol. 192v) in a running pattern or within escutcheons (fol. 45), and one by a hunting scene (fol. 163). The illustrated panel (fol. 256v) includes a man performing the Kiddush.

Categories I & II are executed in gold leaf and painted in blue, red,bordeaux, green, ochre and some white colors.

III. Shaped text (e.g. fols. 179, 192, 214, 244) for the ends of chapters of the SeMaK, written by the scribe in

the shape of arches.

Stage B:

I. Eleven painted initial word panels (fols. 14, 20, 41v, 54, 58v, 60, 62, 66, 72v, 78, 92), one of which includes a text illustration (fols. 78).  Most panels occupy the width of two text columns (e.g. fols. 41v, 66, 78) while several occupy only one column (e.g., fols. 14, 62). The initial words are written in gold within a blue panel filled with white feathery scrolls and surrounded by a gold frame, decorated with gold buds. The panel of the beginning of the Passover prayer (fol. 78) is illustrated by a Mazah and Maror placed in gold baskets above the panel. Two other panels have gold vases filled with flowers above (fols. 14, 62).

II. One marginal text illustration (fol. 66), set in the left margin of the “Hosha’na” ((הושענא prayer for Sukkot, depicts a man holding a lulav (palm branch) and etrog (citron fruit), adjacent to the initial word.

III. Small pen-work initial word or letter panels (e.g., fols. 2v, 37v, 38, 40, 41, 41v, 61, 62, 66, 67v, 71, 78, 114v), six including text illustrations (fols. 37, 37v, 38, 67v, 114v). One of the panels comprises the repeated word of the piyyutLema’an” joined to form a vertical panel (fol. 71). The initial word or letter is written in black ink within a panel filled with delicate filigree pen-work of purple, red, pink or blue.  The pen-work tendrils often extend above or below the panel along the margins or between the text columns. Some of the tendrils incorporate text illustrations such as the First Seder Cup of Wine (fol. 37), The Four Sons (fols. 37v-38), a hybrid (fol. 67v) and Jerusalem (or the Land of Israel) (fol. 114v). Other extensions include human masks (e.g. fols. 2v, 4v, 40, 41v, 71, 78, 88), a human face (fol. 25v), a rabbit (fol. 71), a crown (e.g. fols. 71v, 61, 63v), pomegranates (e.g. fol. 4v) a stork’s head (fol. 62), a dragon head (fol. 24) a bird (fol. 17v).   

Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance
On many pages there are corrections to the main text written in a smaller script (e.g. on fols. 31, 56), and additions of missing words. The corrections are indicated by three dots in the main text and in the margins (e.g. fols. 203v-204). It seems that they were added by different hands; It was probably done by the Italian scribe of the calendar, however, a more detailed palaeographic overview is needed. Fol. 82: In the upper margin on the left, next to the Ma’arava for the seventh night of Passover "וישעי אורי" (Davidson I, no. 2026, p. 94), is an inscription written in a different hand in semi-cursive script: אין זה מנהג ארצותינו “It is not our countries’ custom”. A similar inscription is written on fol. 83 next to the second column of the piyyut “מתי אבוא” (Davidson III, no. 2697, p. 193), while on fols. 83v and 84 the same hand wrote: ,אין זה כפי מנהג מדינותינו ”this is not according to our lands’ custom", relating to the piyyutim אור לשביעי"” (Davidson I, no. 1973, p. 91) and “שביעי אמרת לרדוף” (Davidson III, no. 276, p. 415). 16th-17th century erased text by an unknown Italian censor on fols. 13, 15v, 22, 54v, 56v, 60v, 62v. The censor did not sign his name. February 10, 1832: Bought by the Höfbibliotheque from Juditha Benedikt, wife of the Rabbi Isaiah Benedikt of Misslitz for 20 fl. CM (Schwartz, 1925, No. 88, p.89). On fol. 247v in the lower margin of the page: The violet stamp of the Höfbibliothethek: the script k. k. Höfbibliotheque is written below the Imperial Crown.
Main Surveys & Excavations
Sources
Buchkunst des Morgenlandes. F. Unterkircher (ed.), Ausstellung in der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek in Wien, Wien 1953, Nr. 22. (mentioned) S. Deutsch, Die hebräischen Manusckripte der k.k. Hofbibliothek zu Wien. Österreichische Blätter für Literatur und Kunst 63 (1846), 492. J.W. Einhorn, Spiritalis Unicornis. Das Einhorn als Bedeutungsträger in Literatur und Kunst des Mittelalters (Münstersche Mittelalter-Schriften 13), München 1976, 407 (Nr. 560). Friedenberg, Jewish Seals D. M. Friedenberg, Medieval Jewish Seals from Europe, Detroit 1987. Goldsmidt, Mahzor for Shavuot D. Goldsmidt, Mahzor for Shavuot, Jerusalem 2000 (in Hebrew). W. Hanak, Die Zeit wird Zukunft. Judentum zweischen Erinnerung und Utopie, Alpha und Omega, pp. 213-218. Hebrew Paleography Project Hebrew Paleography Project Jerusalem, J4, J24, ZJ9, J29, G84. Judentum im Mittlealten, catalogue, Schloss Halbturn, Burgenland, 5-10 1978, C159, pp. 238-239. Katalog der Miniaturenausstellung der k.k. Hofbibliothek. Ausstellung in Wien, Wien 1902, 58, Nr. 360. (mentioned) Krafft A. Kraft & S. Deutsch, Die handscriftlischen hebräischen Werke der k. k. Hofbibliothek zu Wien, Wien 1847, 43 (Nr. XXXVII-1), 44(Nr. XXXVIII-1), 61-62 (LII-1), 73-74 (LVI), 77 (Nr. LXIII), 78 (Nr. LXIV). No. 56, p. 73. Metzger and Metzger, Jewish Life T. Metzger and U. Metzger, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, Switzerland 1982, No. 250, p. 314. T. Metzger and U. Metzger, Review to M. Beit-Arié, The only dated medieval Hebrew manuscript written in England (1189 CE) and the problem of pre-expulsion Anglo-Hebrew manuscripts. Cahiers de Civilisation Medievale 22 (1989), pp. 356-359. (mentioned). Monumenta Judaica, Cologne 1963, No. D50, Abb. D20, 38, 39. Narkiss, HIM B. Narkiss, Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts, New York 1969. Narkiss, Mahzor Lipsiae B. Narkiss, "Introduction to the Mahzor Lipsiae," 1964, pp. 85-110 in E. Katz, Machzor Lipsiae, eds. Elias Katz, Leipzig 1964. Narkiss, Washington Haggadah B. Narkiss, "The Art of the Washington Haggadah," in: Weinstein, Myron (ed.), The Washington Haggadah, A Facsimile Edition: Commentary Volume, Washington, Library of Congress 1991, pp. 27-101. E. Roth, "Interessante hebräische Handschriften der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek (Cod. Hebr. 221-224)", biblos 8 (1959), pp. 83-87. Die Schönsten Handschriften der ehemaligen Hofbibliothek. Ausstellung in der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek in Wien, Wien 1965, 7, Nr, 32. (mentioned). Schreckenstein, Üeberlingen K.H. Roth von Schreckenstein, "Zur Geschichte der Juden in Üeberlingen", Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 24 (1872), pp. 259-266. Schwartz, 1925 A. Z. Schwatz, Die hebräischen Handschriften der Nationalbibliothek in Wien, Leipzig 1925, No. 88, pp. 87-90, Tafel I. Shalev-Eyni, Jews among Christians S. Shalev-Eyni, Jews among Christians: A Hebrew School of illumination of the Lake Constance Region, London and Turnhout 2007 (in press). Shalev-Eyni, Tripartite Mahzor S. Shalev-Eyni, The Tripartite Mahzor, Ph.D. Dissertation, Jerusalem 2001 (in Hebrew). H. Striedl, Jüdische Handschriften, Die Zeit der Staufer, ed. R. Haussherr. exhibition catalogue, Stuttgart 1977, Vol. I, pp. 268-269 (Kat. No. 382), Vol. II, abb. 198. Sperber, Customs of Israel D. Sperber, Customs of Israel, Vol. 6, Jerusalem 1998 (in Hebrew). Sternthal, Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts M. Sternthal, "Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts in the Austrian National Library of Vienna" Center for Jewish Art: Newsletter 15 (2000), pp. 13-15. Verzeichniss der im grossen Saale der k.k. Hofbibliothek in Wien ausgestellten Schaustücke, Wien 1893, 12 (Nr. 1). (mentioned). Wissenschaft im Mittelalter , [Bearbeitet von O. Mazal, E. Irblich, I. Németh] Ausstellung in der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek in Wien, Wien 1975, 143 (Nr. 98). Nationalbibliothek, Prunksaal, 22. Mai bis 18. Okt. 1975 / Zucker, Moskowitz Mahzor S. Zucker, The Moskowitz Mahzor of Joel Ben Simeon, Jerusalem 2005 (Hebrew text). L. Zunz, Die Ritus des synagogalen Gottesdienstes, geschichtlich entwickelt. Berlin 1919, 21 Anm. A;28. (mentioned).
Type
Documenter
Alissia Fried Yaffa Levy | 1998 1999
Author of description
Yaffa Levy Guinat Spiegel Estherlee Kanon Michal Sternthal | 1999, 2009 2002 2009 2009
Architectural Drawings
|
Computer Reconstruction
|
Section Head
Michal Sternthal | 2009
Language Editor
|
Donor
|
Negative/Photo. No.
The following information on this monument will be completed:
Unknown |