Obj. ID: 3470
Sacred and Ritual Rabbi Avraham Synagogue in Djerba - Heichal
To the main object: Rabbi Avraham Synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia - Interior
The façade-like Torah ark is set within a central niche in the eastern wall.
The niche is enclosed within a horse-shoe arch painted in an ablaq-like design in blue and white. The niche is blocked by a wooden board with a double winged door.
The horse-shoe arch is supported by two rectangular pilasters surmounted by capitals, decorated with a lotus-like pattern and surrounded by a rectangular frame, all painted in sky-blue, turquoise and brown.
The arch is framed by a rectangle and encloses a central elongated double winged door divided into five panels arranged in two registers. The central door is flanked by panels, similarly decorated; the blue and white panels are decorated with an open-work net pattern, balustrades and sealed rectangles with geometrical patterns.
The tympanum is decorated with an open-work panel depicting Zechariah's Vision (4:2-3; 12); a central menorah shaped as a vase is flanked by vine scrolls bearing clusters of grapes, which grow from a knob (gulah), and occupy the entire space. Several streams (zantarot) flow out of the knob into the menorah's branches, as described in the Vision (see: Remarks: no. 2). The menorah, the streams and bunches are all painted brown, while the scrolls and knob are in turquoise.
A dedication inscribed in square Hebrew letters is attached to the lintel and reads:
"שאול שאל איש (בראשית מג:ז): בזכות משה האיש (שמות לב:א) שניתן לו מה שיבקש: התנדב זאת והקדיש: לאל אשר עים אברהם הניצול מכבשן האש (מבוסס על תלמוד בבלי, פסחים, קיח, ע"א): אני הצעיר סאסי סופר ס"ט (סופו טוב) בשבט שנת תרי"ט לפ"ק (לפרט קטן)."
"'The man asked us straightly' (Gen. 43:7): (the donour will be protected) in favour of the virtue of 'Moses the man' (Ex.32:1) who got whatever he wishes: donated this and dedicated to the Lord, the One who is with Abraham the survivor from the fiery furnace (based on B.T. Pesahim, 118a): I, the youth Sassi Sofer (the scribe; see: Remarks: nos. 3, 4), may his life end well, (donated it) in Shevat the year (5)619 (January, 1859)."
During the years donours dedicated inscriptions engraved on metal plaques. Two plaques inscribed in square Hebrew letters are attached to the central door (fig. 2):
On the right side upon a rectangular plaque with a triangular lower part:
"ב"ה (בעזרת השם) ז(ה)/ נידב/ למנוחת/ פלישה/ בית סופר/ ת.נ.צ.ב.א/ ב"ת ("באהל תבורך" שופטים ח:כד) זה אב/ ש' צ"ח."
"With the Lord's help, this is the donation (made) for the repose of Felicia of the house of Sofer (the scribe), May her soul be bound in the bond (of life), Amen.'Blessed shall she be in the tent' (Judg. 5:24; see: Remarks: no. 5). (Donated in) Av, the year (56)98 (July, 1938)."
A round medallion is attached to the rectangular plaque:
"כסף צרוף (תהלים יב:ז)/ זה הקדיש (הקדש) מאת מזל/ טוב לבית אליהו ברבי/ מב"ת ('מנשים באהל תבורך', שופטים ח:כד) למנוחת אביה ואמה/ ובתה ובעלה ת.נ.צ.ב.ה.א/ ויתן ה' משאלות לבה לטובה/ היא ובניה ובנותיה וכל/ קרוביה אמן."
"This pure silver ('silver tried in furnace' )Ps. 12:6)) is a dedication (to the Lord) made by Mazal Tov (literally "Good Omen") from the house of Eliyahu Berabi, 'blessed shall she be above women in the tent' (Judg. 5:24). For the repose of her father and mother and her daughter and husband, May their souls be bound in the bond of life, Amen, and May the Lord fulfill her wishes for the best, she and her sons and daughters and all her relatives, Amen."
The dedication on the left side is engraved on an oval plaque:
"קודש לה' מיאית (מאת) מאיר ורחמים/ חדאד השי"ת (השם יתברך) יצ"ו (ישמרם צורם וגואלם) ויגעיהו/ לתפלין ולחופה שילימה (שלימה)/ ולמצות אמן" (מבוסס על הברכה הנאמרת בטקס ברית המילה).
"Dedicated to the Lord (hekdesh) by Me'ir and Rahamim Hadad, May the blessed Lord, the Rock and Redeemer protect them and raise them to phylacteries (Tefilin) and a complete marriage (wedding canopy: Huppah) and to the fulfillment of the commandments (mizvot), Amen" (a paraphrase based on the benediction recited during circumcision, see: Remarks: nos. 6, 7).
The arch is enclosed within a rectangular frame, while the spandrels are painted in light blue and adorned with two brown cypresses at their corners.
Blue and white ceramic tiles cover the ark's lower part. It is marked by a step in its front, set beneath a built bench.
The inner space is a rectangular niche, which protrudes at the back wall (see: R. Abraham Synagogue, prayer hall. A mat covers the floor on which the Torah cases stand.
- Kodesh is the shorten name for Heikhal HaKodesh, namely the Sacred Ark.
- The depiction of Zechariah's Vision (Zech. 4:2-3) is not a common theme in Tunisia, as in most Jewish communities. However, an early well-known illustration of the vision is depicted in the Castilian Cervera Bible, produced near Toledo, in 1300 (Lisbon, Biblioteca Nacional, Ms. Ill. 72, fol. 316v; cf. Narkiss, Hebrew, p. 79, plate 6). Although this depiction has no direct connection to the R. Abraham's tympanum, they both share a mutual visual tradition. This artistic formula may testify to a Sephardi model, which possibly reached Djerba via the Ottoman Empire. Similar depictions are seen in Turkey, among the descendents of the Sephardi Jewish community. This visual convention possibly originated in Spain and continued to exist among the Jewish Sephardi Diaspora after the Expulsion, especially in South India, Turkey and Italy (see: Amar, Zechariah's Vision, 2001, pp.13-19; Amar, Ron, Endangered, 2007, pp. 20-24).
- The Kabbalist Rabbi Moses Aydan (died in 1894), composed a eulogy book titled Tif'eret Moshe. In his composition he paid tribute to different leaders and rabbis in Djerba, among them Rabbi Sassi Sofer. The praise refers to Sofer as "a righteous who follows after righteousness and mercy" (Prov. 21:21; Aydan, Tif'eret Moshe, pp. 7v-10). Eulogy books were a prevalent genre of composition in Tunisia since the early 18th century. These books are an important source, revealing historical events and the chronology of many scholars in Tunisia. Some were printed and published years after their author passed away, as the Tif'eret Moshe, which was published by Aydan's sons in 1944 (for this genre, see: Bar Asher, HaSifrut HaRabanit, pp. 37-43).
- The dedication is a compilation of Biblical and Talmudic sources which attest to a special rescuing event, which occurred in 1859. I wasn't able to trace this event, and it may be related to the flood of 1853 (see: HaGedolah Synagogue, prayer hall, Suggested Reconstruction; Slouschz, Ha-i Pely, p. 157) or it may refer to a personal deliverance.
- Unlike this dedication, the blessing "Blessed shall she be in the tent" (Judg. 5:24), is usually recited for living women, as in the following dedication.
- The dedication is a unique blessing based on the benediction declaimed during the circumcision ceremony. Yet, the Torah, which appears in the original blessing, is replaced by the Tefilin and the good deeds, by the fulfillment of the commandments. This linguistic formula was a common benediction recited by parents who blessed their children. It was possibly also recited during Bar-Mitzvah.
- Few words in the dedications are inscribed according to the local pronunciation, replacing the Hebrew vowel ei (tseire) and a consonant that carries a short vowel (sheva) by the vowel i (hirik). Thus, the word mi'it (by) replaces me'et, and shilimah (complete) interchanges shleimah. For the local articulation, see: Katz, The Hebrew Language, Jerusalem, pp. 345-347.
sub-set tree: 
Structure: masonry, sawed, hammered
Decoration: ceramic tiles, painting
Bonding: hinges, nails, glue
Inscription: engraving on silver, paint on wood
Width: 300 cm
The contemporary ark was placed in 1859, and probably replaced the original earlier one, of the early 18th century.
Aydan, Moses. Tif'eret Moshe. Djerba: Aydan, Cohen and Saban's Printing House, 1944. In Hebrew.
Amar, Ariella. "The Menorah of Zechariah’s Vision: Olive Trees and Grapevines." In The Real and Ideal Jerusalem in
Jewish, Christian and Islamic Art (Jewish Art 23-24), edited by Bianca Kühnel, 79-88. Jerusalem: The Center
for Jewish Art, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1997-8.
Amar, Ariella. Zechariah’s Vision in Jewish Art. M.A. Dissertation submitted to The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2001.
In Hebrew.
Amar, Ariella, and Einat Ron. Ritual Objects. Vol. 1 of Endangered Moveable Objects and their Untold Stories. A Project supported by Unesco. Jerusalem: The Center for Jewish Art, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2007. Accessed Mars 2011. http://cja.huji.ac.il/Unesco.html.
Bar Asher, Shalom. HaSifrut HaRabanit BiZfon Africa, 1700-1948. Jerusalem: Ministry of Education, 1999. In Hebrew.
Narkiss, Bezalel. Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts. Jerusalem: Keter, 1984. In Hebrew and English.
Ktzia, Katz. The Hebrew Language Tradition of the Community of Djerba (Tunisia): The phonology and the Morphology of the Verb. Jerusalem: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Institute of Jewish Studies, The Language Traditions Project, 1977. In Hebrew.
Slouschz, Nahum. Ha-i Pely. Tel Aviv: Dvir, 1958.