Obj. ID: 37364 Torah pointer, Warsaw (Warszawa), circa 1880
sub-set tree:
O | Ornamentation: | Foliate and floral ornaments | Floral motif
B | Branch
F | Flower
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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 etẓba, "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. An additional reason for using the pointer was to prevent the oily finger from touching the parchment and inked letter, something that would eventually cause severe deterioration.
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.
A bulbous but quite gracefully-designed Yad. It is divided into four sections: the pointing hand with a finger ring, a narrow melon-shaped section separated from the hand by a ruffled cuff, a large narrow melon-shaped section, and the whole topped by a ball-shaped piece to which is attached the chain. The three upper sections are all divided into quadrants, each one of which is decorated by a different engraved motif, most involving flowers and vegetation. While there is no silver mark on the Yad, its shape and general style are very much those that were used in Warsaw from the final quarter of the 19th century and into the 20th century. The engraving is quite finely rendered.