Obj. ID: 48408
Sacred and Ritual Objects Shiviti, India, circa 1875
The following description was prepared by William Gross:
The Shiviti plaque takes its name from a phrase in the Psalms, "Shiviti Adonai Lenegdi Tamid". "I will always hold the Lord before me." During morning prayers, the 67th Psalm is read as a part of the liturgy. The making of such visual pages to augment the reading started almost 500 years ago. It began because of a particular story or legend. The custom relates that if one gazes on the form of the Menorah while reciting the Psalm, or reads the Psalm written in the form of a Menorah, the person is carried back to the Temple, standing before the golden Temple Menorah itself. To complete the illusion, some of the Temple implements were often illustrated. The mysticism of the idea is clear, and the Shiviti page is often filled with Kabbalistic abbreviations as well as the Menorah form. Sometimes, depending on the size and complexity of the image, other texts read during the time of prayer are also presented on the sheet.
Such pages appear as small sheets to be inserted into a prayer book and taken out when the psalm is recited or as large pages to be hung on the wall of the synagogue for the viewing by the whole congregation. The sheet was also used on the wall of a home or Sukkah. Later still, the Shiviti could be printed in the prayer book or painted on the wall of the synagogue. There are numerous examples of both the prayer book tradition and the wall plaque tradition in the Gross Family Collection.
THE BRILLIANT COLORS AND ELABORATE USE OF GOLD IDENTIFY THIS AS A SHIVITI OF INDIAN ORIGIN. THERE IS A PARALLEL PIECE IN THE MAGNES MUSEUM IN BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, PERHAPS BY THE SAME SCRIBE, THAT WAS ACQUIRED IN INDIA. BOTH THE PLAQUES, FROM BERKELEY AND THIS EXAMPLE, WERE USED AS DEDICATORY GIFTS TO INDIVIDUALS. IN THIS CASE THE SHIVITI WAS PRESENTED TO DAVID ELIJAH DAVID JOSEPH EZRA. THE USE OF FIVE MENOROT AND THE DEPICTION OF HOLY PLACES SET THESE SHEETS APART FROM THE MORE SIMPLE AND COMMON TYPES OF SHIVITI PLAQUES. THE TEXT FORMING EACH MENORAH IS DERIVED FROM A DIFFERENT PSALM, THE CENTER MENORAH BEING THE TRADITIONAL 67TH PSALM TEXT. ADDITIONAL TEXTS ARE OTHER BIBLICAL INSCRIPTIONS, MAGICAL TEXTS AND NAMES OF ANGELS. THE PLAQUE IS DIVIDED INTO FIVE HORIZONTAL SECTIONS, THE CENTRAL ONES BEING THE MENORAHS AND THE DEPICTIONS OF THE TEMPLE AND MIDRASH SHLOMO ALONG WITH THE DECALOGUE.
In Honor of: David Elijah David Joseph Ezra