Obj. ID: 37251 Torah pointer, Vienna (Wien), 1852
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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 eẓba, "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.
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.
This artistically delicate Torah pointer originates in the workshop of a Viennese silversmith. This artisan, Franz Zeitler, made many religious objects for the Jewish community of Vienna, a number of which are today in the Vienna Jewish Museum. The length of this Yad is punctuated by several raised rings covered with fine repousse roses. This typifies the Biedermeier style in vogue at the time this pointer was fashioned.