Obj. ID: 3994
Sacred and Ritual Objects Torah pointer, Vienna, 1867-1872
The following description was prepared by William Gross:
The pointer used by the Torah reader to keep the place is known in European communities as the *yad, "hand," or the eẓba, "finger," and in Sephardi and Eastern communities as the moreh, "pointer," or kulmus, "quill," the former because of its function and the latter because of its shape. Halakhic sources also use the terms moreh or kulmus. The pointer was originally a narrow rod, tapered at the pointing end, usually with a hole at the other end through which a ring or chain could be passed to hang the pointer on the Torah scroll.
The original form of the pointer was preserved in Eastern communities, the differences from one community to another being mainly in length and ornamentation. In certain communities, a hand with a pointing finger was added, and accordingly, the pointer came to be known as a yad, "hand," or eẓba, "finger." Pointers are made for the most part of silver or silver-plated brass, but in a few European communities, they used to be made of wood. In such cases, the pointers were carved in the local folk-art style.
This exceptionally graceful styled Torah pointer is engraved with very delicate engraving. It comes not as a surprise, then, that the maker was a woman silversmith by the name of Elizabeth Gendel, whose maker's mark is "EG". Another Yad from her hand is in a synagogue in Izmir, Turkey, and two lions made by her grace a Tas in the Gross Family Collection, 051.001.024. She is one of the very few female silversmiths recognized in Vienna. On a trip to Izmir, I found a similar yad (CJA object 952) in one of the synagogues handing on the inside of the Ark door.