Obj. ID: 39212  Shabbat and Holiday Challah Cover, Jerusalem, circa 1890

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

Shabbat cloths were printed in several places, mainly in Jerusalem. This is a Shabbat cloth printed on silk on behalf of the Jerusalem Old Folks' Home - "The profit from the sale of this cloth will be dedicated to the Old Folks' Home in the Holy City of Jerusalem, may it be rebuilt and restored". At the bottom is a prayer on the subject of donations to the Old Folks' Home (in Yiddish-Teitsch) and beneath it another dedicational inscription, in German. The printed inscriptions Include blessings for the Sabbath and holidays. At the center is the coat-of-arms of the Monetfiore family, with the inscription "Mizrach" showing rampant animals, a lion and a stag, holding the Ten Commandments. Surrounding it are illustrations of trees ("Atzei Chaim"), Hanukkah lamps with the cruse of oil, the Machpelah Cave, the tomb of Rabbi Meir Ba'al HaNess, Rachel's Tomb, "Image of the Jerusalem Old Folks' Home", the Davidic Kings' Tomb, the Western Wall, and a view of the city of Safed. While the word Mizrach is incorporated in the Montefiore coat of arms in this printing, it is clear that the primary use is for the Kiddush.

The printer, Israel Dov Frumkin, established his own press in 1874 and continued printing in Jerusalem for more than thirty years, after having worked in Bak's printing house since 1870. He was Bak's son-in-law. He was also the publisher and printer for the newspaper "Havatzelet". On this cloth is printed a perhaps singular image of the Home of the Aged for whom this Shabbat item was produced. Inscription: Lichvod Shabbat ve-Yom Tov Mizrach Moshav Zekenim