A Glimpse at Jewish Religious Life
What better way to catch a glimpse of Jewish religious
life in the late Middle Ages in central Europe than through the
illustrations of a book on Jewish customs. Those in the 1707 Amsterdam
edition of Minhagim, published by Solomon ben Joseph Proops, have
become the standard. The woodcut illustrations are authentic and
comprehensive, covering Sabbath and holiday observance, and home and
synagogue rituals. Among them are a
mother blessing the Sabbath lights of a Sabbath oil lamp; a father chanting
the Havdalah (service of "separation" at the conclusion of the
Sabbath), while he holds a cup of wine by the light of a candle held by a
child whose sibling holds a spice box; four men blessing the new moon; a
rabbi preaching on the Great Sabbath (preceding Passover); grinding flour for and
baking matzoh; searching for chametz (leaven); and scouring pots and
pans. Also shown are a man having his hair cut on Lag B'Omer--the thirty-third
day of the fifty between Passover and Shavuot, when restrictions
obtaining during that period of sernimourning are relaxed; Moses on Sinai
receiving the Ten Commandments; worshipers seated on the floor on Tisha B'Av, mourning the destruction of the Temple; the sounding of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, the New Year; a man
building his tabernacle for the Feast of
Tabernacles; the gathering of palms, willows, and myrtle to join the
citron in its celebration; children receiving sweets to celebrate the Joy
of the Law, Simhat Torah; the
kindling of a Hanukkah lamp; and Purim jesters sounding their musical
instruments. The life cycle is also marked: bride and groom under the huppah (canopy); an infant boy entering the Covenant
of Abraham; and finally, a body borne in a coffin to its eternal
resting place.
The woodcut illustrations of Jewish holiday and ritual
observance in Minhagim (Customs), published by Solomon Proops,
Amsterdam, 1707, with descriptions and instructions in Yiddish, offer us a
glimpse of Jewish life at the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of
the eighteenth centuries, Minhagim (Customs), Amsterdam, 1707.
Hebraic Section, Library of Congress Photo).
 |
Sources: Abraham J. Karp, From
the Ends of the Earth: Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress,
(DC: Library of Congress,
1991).
|
