Img. ID: 10446
This commemorative plaque was created from painted stucco.
The upper section depicts images of hands in the form of the Priestly Blessing, and the symbol of the Levites (a jar), surmounted by a cartouche. The lower section bears the following Hebrew inscription:
החלון הזה קנאו / ונדבו בני החבורה / הקדושה כהנים / והלוים לכבוד / המקום ולכבוד / ב'ה' [=בית הכנסת] לאורו לפר' [=לפרט] / יברכך יאר ישא / שלום [מילות פתיחה של ברכת כהנים, במדבר ו, 24-26, = 5407/1647]
Translation:
This window was purchased and donated by the members of the Holy Society of Priests [Cohanim] and Levites in honor of God and in honor of the synagogue, in order to give light to it. The year: [the Lord] bless you, [the Lord make his face] shine [upon you], [the Lord] lift up [his countenance upon you], [and give you] peace [Priestly Blessing, Numbers 6:24-26; the highlighted letters give the year (1646-)1647].
Note: As this photograph of 1994 shows, the Hebrew characters yod, yod, yod, and alef in the penultimate line, as well as the entire word shalom in the ultimate line of the inscription, were originally highlighted by the use of a different color. (This feature disappeared during the recent restoration, when all letters of the inscription were colored in gold.) The sum of the demarcated letters equals [5]407, which corresponds to the year (1646-)1647. The same date for the synagogue’s founding is provided in: Izabella Rejduch-Samkowa and Jan Samek, eds., Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, vol. 4: Miasto Kraków, part 6: Kazimierz i Stradom; Judaica: Bóżnice, budowle publiczne i cmentarze (Warsaw: IS PAN, 1995), p. 20.