Obj. ID: 39419  Textile for Bag of Earth of the Holy Land, Jerusalem, circa 1910

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

While death and mourning are not generally considered a subject with a lot of graphic expression, within the Jewish tradition there are quite a few examples. Such things as memorial poems, burial plot receipts, Yahrzeit memorial plaques, etc. gave ample scope for artistic creativity. The customs surrounding this sad time of life gave birth to graphic design.

Traditionally, it has been the dream of every Jew to be buried in Jerusalem. At the beginning of the 20th century someone developed an idea for all of those for whom such a burial was impossible, who were nearly 100% of the Jewish population of the world at that time. This object is a cloth bag of earth, printed with the picture of the holy places: the Kotel and the Mount of Olives. The bag was sent abroad to be placed under the head of a deceased Jew, so that it was as if he were buried in the holy city of Jerusalem. This bag is printed on orange cloth and is prior to the sewing of the bag. From the images, it seems that this cloth was printed by Shmuel Zuckerman.

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, 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 than 100 items from the Zuckerman printing house exist in the Gross Family Collection.

Inscription: U-Kfar Admato 'imo… Chevrah Kadisha ha-Rashit veha-Klallit le-'Edat ha-Ashkenazim, shames Isaac Nissenboim