Obj. ID: 56265
  Sacred and Ritual  Mizrah, Wrocław (Breslau), circa 1900

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

Mizrah (Hebrew: מזרח "east") is the Hebrew word for "east" and the direction that Jews in the Diaspora face during prayer. Jewish law prescribes that Jews at prayer face the site of the Temple in Jerusalem. In addition, "Mizrach" refers to an ornamental wall plaque used to indicate the direction of prayer in Jewish homes. In a synagogue, that direction would be obvious as it is the side of the building on which the ark was placed. But in a home or Sukkah the direction had to be indicated. It is customary in traditional Jewish homes and the Sukkah to mark the wall in the direction of Mizrach to facilitate proper prayer. For this purpose, people use artistic wall plaques inscribed with the word Mizrach and scriptural passages like "From the rising (mi-mizrah) of the sun unto the going down thereof, the Lord's name is to be praised" (Ps. 113:3), Kabbalistic inscriptions, or pictures of holy places. Such plaques were most often manuscript forms or printed sheets, ranging from the simplest idea of the word only to elaborately decorated pages with a wide range of images and texts. These plaques are generally placed in rooms in which people pray, such as the living room or bedrooms. The four letters of the Hebrew word MiZRaCH are sometimes indicated as the initial letters of the Hebrew phrase Metzad Zeh Ruach Chaim (From this side the source of life).

A relatively late development, the Mizrach was primarily created in the 19th and 20th centuries and several designs became quite popular, being copied and printed in more than one location. This is one such example that was printed in both Breslau and Prague. The central theme is the representation of Jerusalem through the illustration of the Ark of the Covenant and the Western Wall. Further reinforcing the centrality of the Holy Land as the direction of prayer is the presentation of the symbols of the 12 Tribes of Israel. Additional images are those of Moses and Aaron as well as the biblical scenes of Moses striking the rock to bring forth water in the Sinai and the "Akedat Yitzhak", the Sacrifice of Isaac. Both of these images are derived at the source from similar depictions by Matthaeus Merian, who produced a series of biblical etchings in Strasbourg between 1625 and 1630.