Obj. ID: 22233
Sacred and Ritual Objects Torah shield
The silver Torah Shield is rectangular terminating with a semicircular arch. It consists of a plate. Its centre depicts a medallion which bears a pair of cuffed blessing hands with divided fingers. The medallions frame consists of a repeating row of diamonds, each bearing a single two leafed flower.
A dedicatory inscription begins in the arch above the medallion and continues below. The square filled letters above the medallion read:
כה
תברכו את בני
ישראל אמור להם
ייו [יברכך יהוה וישמרך] ייפ אוי [יאר יהוה פניו אליך ויחנך] לפא ולש [ישא פניו אליך וישם לך שלום] ואש עבי וא [ושמו את שמי על בני ישראל ואני אברכם] לפ"ק [לפרט קטן] [במדבר ו:כ"ג - כ"ו]
"On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them." (Num. 6:23-26) Some of the abbreviations are from Num. 6:24-26. The abbreviated verses numerical value equals the year [5]548 (1808).
Below the medallion the inscription reads: " שרה לאה בת מיכל הכהן." "Sarah Leah daughter of Mikhel Hacohen."
A solid band frames the shield.
Note by V. Levin: This object appears in a photogpraph of the exposition of the Jewish Museum in Petrograd/Leningrad, see Первый евррейский музей в России (СПб: Петербургская Иудаика, 2009), с. 15.
sub-set tree:
Kantsedikas, Alexander, Yelena Volkovinskaya, and Tatiana Romanovskaya, Silver (Masterpieces of Jewish Art, vol. 3) (Moscow: Image, 1991), ill. 36.