Obj. ID: 48413
Sacred and Ritual Objects Shiviti, Morocco, 1878
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 Shiviti was one of the most popular wall decorations in Morocco in the synagogue. It usually contained the 67th psalm in the form of the menorah and was often accompanied by depictions of the temple implements and Kabbalistic inscriptions, as in the present example. In special examples, there were multiple menorahs formed from Hebrew words. This Shiviti contains the depiction of the Magen David as well, with the word Zion inscribed inside the six pointed star. This use would indicate a date after 1898, when this symbol was introduced to the Jewish world. This piece is signed by the artist/scribe, Shalom bar Simchah.