Obj. ID: 56371
  Sacred and Ritual  Mizrah, Warsaw (Warszawa), 1877

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).

This is one of the most elegant Mizrachs known among the group of printed examples that have survived. It is illustrated with the figures of biblical heroes and scenes of Jewish holidays. The lithographer's identity is printed below, but there is no date or place. It is clear that he was a very skilled craftsman.

But there exists another very similar version of this page in the Gross Family Collection, 056.011.090 that has the titles in German and Italian in contrast to this page which has inscriptions in Hebrew and German. That version contains the name of the lithographer. Since the two sheets are so similar it is possible to assume that they were printed by the same lithographer and in the same place and at the same date.