Obj. ID: 54415  Kame'a u-Shmirah le-Hatzlachah ule-Yoledet ume-Kol Davar Ra', Jerusalem, 1904

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

From earliest times, man has tried to protect himself from misfortune by the use of objects that he considered holy or otherwise (e.g., magically) potent. Amulets and talismans are Items generally worn around the neck or wrist, carried in a pocket or purse or hung on a wall. They are meant to protect or aid those who carried or wore them. The Hebrew word for amulet, kame‘a, has the root meaning "to bind". Jewish amulets are usually comprised of texts (either letters or graphic symbols) that are inscribed on some sort of material; some may also contain plant matter or precious stones. The texts of amulets usually include holy names that are believed to have the ability to affect reality, along with incantations summoning angels or other magical powers. For the most part, an amulet has a specific purpose: to ease childbirth, facilitate recovery from illness, improve one’s livelihood, and so on, but in the modern world many are also made for general protection.

This specific form of amulet was first published by Israel Dov Frumkin soon after the establishment of his printing press in Jerusalem in 1874. It was published in two different versions then as well as on different colored papers.  Subsequently, it appeared in many different printings, some by Frunkin himself but afterward by many different presses in other variations even today. Many of these publications are represented in the Gross Family collection. Frumkin was an important printer of books and single sheets for almost 30 years. Such a single sheet was printed to be hung on the wall of a home and represents the kind of printed single pages that made their frequent appearance in the marketplace during the last half of the 19th century. This is the type of decorative page that provided the average Jewish person with the ability to have "art" on the walls of his home. Franklin was the son-in-law of the first printer in Jerusalem, Yisrael Bak, and worked in Bak's printing establishment from 1870 until he acquired his own press four years later. He was also the printer and editor of the Hebrew newspaper "Havatzelet".

This amulet was intended, as described in the large letters at the top, as a talisman and Shmirah against fire, as a protection for a pregnant woman, and as a general shield against all bad things. It contains many Kabbalistic formulae and "names" as well as a number of visual elements. Zuckerman made one major change from the amulet printed by Frumkin in that he changed the images of the three angels in the center to the depiction of an angel at the center which was the defining image of a great many amulets printed in Jerusalem. The image originated in Eastern Europe but was copied in the Holy Land and became exceedingly popular as an amuletic device on publications in Jerusalem. The amount of text is much greater than what is normally seen and deals with names of angels and other Kabbalistic lore for protection of the house and its inhabitants.

Shmuel ben Ya’akov Halevy Zuckerman was born in Mesiritch in 1856. As a six-year-old child, he made Aliyah with his parents. He learned the printing trade while working for Yisrael Bak, after whose death he continued in the printing house of Bak’s son Nisan. He soon went to London, however, and worked in printing there before returning to Eretz Israel to work in the shop of Ag”n. By 1885 he was a partner in that enterprise and from 1886 became the sole owner, publishing books under his name, and becoming one of the foremost printers in Jerusalem. The press operated in the Old City of Jerusalem until Zuckerman moved it to the new city in 1926. Up to 1890, almost 80 books were printed from his press in addition to many single sheets. More than100 items from the Zuckerman printing house exist in the Gross Family Collection