Printed booklet, Hanhagot VeTakanot MehaChevra Kadisha Etz Chaim, Practices and Ordinances of the Etz Chaim Chevra Kadisha, Beit Midrash of the Ashkenazi community. Amsterdam: Proops, [1755]. Hebrew integrated with Yiddish.

The book contains an introduction, 22 ordinances of the Chevra Kadisha, and printed signatures of leaders of the community and Beit Midrash.

5 leaves. 15.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Worming, affecting text, repaired with tape. New binding.

Rare.

Kiddush cup. Italy, presumably Ancona; dedicatory inscription dated 1803.

Silver, stamped and engraved (unmarked); parcel gilt.

Kiddush cup in form of a trimmed cone, supported by a tall, fancy shaft with a vegetal pattern on top of a round, elevated base. Engraved dedicatory inscription (Hebrew) along rim of base: "Made under the sponsorship of the dear and wonderful Moshe Yitzhak Pesaro and Yisrael Cohen-Belinfante … in the year 5563 [1803]." Gilt surface.

The Pesaros are a Jewish family originating from the Le Marche region of Italy; descendants resided in Ferrara, Ancona, and Venice, among other places. The Cohen-Bellinfantes are a Sephardi Jewish family of Portuguese origin. Among the patriarchs of the Cohen-Bellinfante family was Yosef Cohen-Bellinfante, who left Portugal in 1526 and settled in the Balkans; descendants are known to have lived in the Netherlands, among other countries, and some of them gained fame as poets, authors, educators, and rabbis.

Height: 16.5 cm. Diameter at base: 7 cm. Good condition. All parts of cup soldered together.

Amulet for the protection of the home, customarily distributed by R. Yeshaya Steiner of Kerestir ("R' Yeshayale Kerestirer"), the "Yismach Moshe" and other Rebbes. [Europe, ca. 1910s-1930s].

Photolithographic print on thick paper, with Stam script in two lines: "ילשת באשר בוליב / והאפה הבמוג ולה". On verso, handwritten inscriptions in German: "Rabbiner" (written twice).

The identity of the amulet's printer and the righteous rabbi who gave it for protection remain unclear. This print appears to be an old, high-quality lithograph or zincograph from the early 20th century (approximately 1910s-1920s, possibly 1930s).

The book "Mofet HaDor" about the famous Rabbi Yeshayah of Kerestir relates that most amulets he gave followed this formula. It tells of a Jewish shop that was miraculously saved from arson by a gentile competitor after receiving such amulets from R. Yeshaya of Kerestir. Two photographs of these amulets appear there.

Rabbi Yeshayale of Kerestir passed away on 3 Iyar 5685 (1925), and such amulets may have been printed during his lifetime, as demand increased.

This amulet, containing three protective verses, is decoded in the book "Elef Ktav" (R. Yitzchak Weiss of Vrbové, entry 515): the first line alternates initials from the verses "May there be peace within your walls, serenity within your palaces" (Psalms 122:7) and "No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent" (Psalms 91:10), while the second line contains initials from the verse "And they smote the men who were at the entrance of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the entrance" (Genesis 19:11).

This amulet formula was given by Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum, author of "Yismach Moshe", for protecting homes from thieves and harmful forces.

The journal "Nachalat Zvi" (16, pp. 126-127) shows a photograph of a similar amulet written by the "Yismach Moshe" and given by his grandson, the "Yitav Lev", to his attendant – Rabbi Meir Schwartz. It relates that when the Satmar Rebbe, author of "Divrei Yoel", visited Eretz Israel, he made a special trip to see this amulet and examined it with interest.

Similar amulets were later given by the Admorim of Sanz, Belz, Ruzhin, Sighet and Liska. Additionally, Rabbi Hillel of Kolomyia, in his "Teshuvot Beit Hillel HaChadash" (section 32), recommends writing this amulet and "placing it at all entrances of a new house for some time, and no harm will come to him or any members of his household".

4X7 cm. Good-fair condition. Thick bristol paper. Stains, including dampstains. Worming hole at top of amulet.

Large plaque depicting some 50 cities, sites, monuments and figurative scenes from Eretz Israel, printed as a map-like woodcut, arranged in groups within rectangular and square frames, along with handwritten captions, descriptions and explanations (the titles are in square script; the descriptions are in cursive Italian Hebrew script).

The title appearing at the top of the leaf "Zot Igeret Mesaperet Yichusta DeTzadikaya DeAr'a Kadisha DeYisrael" (this is a letter recounting the attribution of Tzaddikim of the Holy Land of Israel…), indicates a relation between this print and a prose work by the same name, first printed in Venice, 1626.

The plaque depicts Kiryat Arba / Hebron, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Ramah, Safed, Tiberias and Haifa; the sites depicted include the tombs of the forefathers and foremothers in Hebron, the tombs of Joshua and Samuel, the Kidron Stream, the Red Sea, the tomb of Rachel, the Efrat and Jordan roads, and Batei Midrash, Torah schools and yeshivas in the various cities. Most of the plaque is dedicated to Jerusalem, and the largest illustration, appearing in the center, depicts the Dome of the Rock – "the gate of the place of the Temple", flanked on either side by the "Western Gate" and the "Gate of Mercy", towers, two lion heads (with long tongues resembling flames), surrounded by other sites: "the place of immersion of the high priest", "the Pool of Siloam" (depicted as a fountain), "Mount of Olives and the synagogue of David", the Western Wall, the Temple menorah, the Altar, "the place of the judges", the "guest house" Tower of David, "the pillar of the Sanhedrin of seventy", "the cedars of Lebanon planted by Solomon", and more. The depictions of Jerusalem also incorporate human figures and various scenes: the bringing of first fruits, the prophet Elijah at the gate of Jerusalem, a shofar blowing announcing the coming of the Messiah, the king's guards, the spies bearing a bunch of grapes, and two figures next to an Altar.