Obj. ID: 5238
Sacred and Ritual Objects Luah Menadvim Le-Zedakah (A Plaque for Alms Donation), Mondovi, 18th century
The narrow rectangular plaque is surmounted by an arched wavy top, with an opening for hanging. The plaque is titled with a Hebrew inscription:
נדבות / לחלק לכל קופות
"Donations for distributing to all the donation boxes."
The plaque is inscribed with a list of the Levi and Mosigliano families and their first names, written on a paper attached to the right. The left side is pierced with 30 rows of holes, 12 holes in each row. Hebrew letters are inscribed alphabetically above the first row. The letters are divided into two groups: soldi and litrin, which are names of small Italian coins.
Within most holes are threads knotted on both ends. Each second row of the holes is empty.
The following is the list of the Levi and Mosigliano members of the community:
|
Benjamin Levi |
בנימין לוי |
|
JudahLevi |
יהודה לוי |
|
Michael Levi |
מיכאל לוי |
|
Mordechai Levi |
מרדכי לוי |
|
Menahem Levi |
מנחם לוי |
|
Jonathan Levi, son ofJudah |
יונתן לוי ב(ן) יהודה |
|
Jonathan Levi, son of Raphael |
יונתן לוי ב(ן) רפאל |
|
Isaac Levi |
יצחק לוי |
|
Joseph Levi, son of Salomon |
יוסף לוי ב(ן) שלמה |
|
Jonathan Levi, son of Isaac |
יונתן לוי ב(ן) יצחק |
|
David Mosigliano |
דוד מוסיליאנו |
|
Salomon Mosigliano |
שלמה מוסיליאנו |
|
Jonathan Mosigliano |
יונתן מוסיליאנו |
|
Samuel ? Mosigliano |
שמואל ? מוסיליאנו |
|
David Mosigliano |
דוד מוסיליאנו |
8 image(s) Items per page
sub-set tree: 
The plaque is in good condition.
This was the reason for the development of plaques such as the one described below. This plaque was used for registering the "sale" of Torah readings and other donations on Sabbaths and festivals – to avoid directly speaking of monetary matters. The plaque allowed the sum of money which was to be paid on a weekday by the members of the community accorded an honour, to be marked in a clever way: A list of the community members was set beside a vertical row of holes with attached threads, inscribed with a sum of money. During the "sale" of the Torah readings, the threads were then drawn out in order to mark the specific sum donated, corresponding to the name of the donor.
It is still unknown when the communities in Piedmont started this custom. The earliest plaque documented dates back to 1703, and is inscribed with names of members who prayed in the Mondovi synagogue (Sc.530-25). Apart from representing the custom, these plaques provide a valuable genealogical list of the families, who lived in Piedmont from the early eighteenth century. arranged according to the synagogues Moreover, a comparison of lists from different periods reveals the development or the decline of a specific synagogue, as for example the two plaques of Asti, point to the diminishing number of its members who read the Torah during the service in the nineteenth century (Sc.528-39).
- Biddau, Niccolò. Gli Spazi della Parola: Synagogue in Piemonte. Torino: Elede Editrica SRL,2002. In Italian and English.
- Sacerdoti, Annie, and Annamarcella Tedeschi Falco. Piemonte Itinerari ebraici: I luoghi, la storia, l'arte. Venezia: Marsilio Edition,1994. In Italian.
Sacerdoti, Annie, and Luca Fiorentino. Guide to Jewish Italy. New York: Israelowitz Publishing, 1999.