Img. ID: 579234

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

This page is based on the amulet developed by Yitzhak Nachum Levi. This birth amulet was printed by the firm of Joseph Lugassy. The amulet depicts the hamsa as a Kabbalistic hand as well as an angle. This is taken directly from the traditional Jerusalem amulet printed since the beginning of the 20th century. Several of the amuletic formulas are specifically for protection from Lilith.  Included as well are the"Shir le-Ma'alot" (Psalm 121) prayer, the names of Patriarch couples, and the story of Eliyahu meeting Lilith. The text also mentions that the amulets is based on the tradition of the Ba'al Shem Tov. This printing is the same as Gross Family Collection 027.011.087, with the addition at the bottom of images of the Rambam, Rave Shimon bar Yochai, and the Tomby of Rabbi Meir Ba'al Hanes.

The firm of Joseph Lugassy began as a bookstore in 1924. Many printed items were printed specifically for him, but it appears that he became a printer as well towards the end of the decade of 1930s when he became one of the largest Jewish printers in Morocco. In 1948 the Lugassy family made Aliyah to Israel and established a bookstore in Jerusalem, an institution continuing to this day. In Israel, as well printed items have appeared with the Lugassy firm as publishers including this amulet. This page is based on the amulet developed by Yitzhak Nachum Levi but later printed in Casablanca, Morocco, by Kadoch, of which there are several versions in the Gross Family collection.

Publisher:                        Yosef Lugassy