hiddurmitzvah

[hiddurmitzvah]

Currently working on an artistic project dedicated to abandoned jewish cemeteries (in Hungary) and their amazing symbols, such as these lions! Please check the Art of Abandoned Jewish Cemeteries site to follow for more details of the project.

[hiddurmitzvah]

Chag Sameach everyone!

Here's your annual reminder that it was a Plague of singular Frog (who must have been so big)

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Little amulet fish friend tat by @mollacule or mo.stabs on IG tyyy

From the Tanakh, Tehillim Psalms 121-7:

שִׁ֗יר לַֽמַּ֫עֲל֥וֹת אֶשָּׂ֣א עֵ֭ינַי אֶל־הֶהָרִ֑ים מֵ֝אַ֗יִן יָבֹ֥א עֶזְרִֽי׃

1- A song for ascents.

I turn my eyes to the mountains;

from where will my help come?

עֶ֭זְרִי מֵעִ֣ם יְהֹוָ֑ה עֹ֝שֵׂ֗ה שָׁמַ֥יִם וָאָֽרֶץ׃

2- My help comes from the LORD, maker of heaven and earth.

אַל־יִתֵּ֣ן לַמּ֣וֹט רַגְלֶ֑ךָ אַל־יָ֝נ֗וּם שֹׁמְרֶֽךָ׃

3- He will not let your foot give way; your guardian will not slumber;

הִנֵּ֣ה לֹֽא־יָ֭נוּם וְלֹ֣א יִישָׁ֑ן שׁ֝וֹמֵ֗ר יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

4- See, the guardian of Israel

neither slumbers nor sleeps!

יְהֹוָ֥ה שֹׁמְרֶ֑ךָ יְהֹוָ֥ה צִ֝לְּךָ֗ עַל־יַ֥ד יְמִינֶֽךָ׃

5- The LORD is your guardian, the LORD is your protection at your right hand.

יוֹמָ֗ם הַשֶּׁ֥מֶשׁ לֹֽא־יַכֶּ֗כָּה וְיָרֵ֥חַ בַּלָּֽיְלָה׃

6- By day the sun will not strike you,

nor the moon by night.

יְֽהֹוָ֗ה יִשְׁמׇרְךָ֥ מִכׇּל־רָ֑ע יִ֝שְׁמֹ֗ר אֶת־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃

7- The LORD will guard you from all harm; He will guard your life.

יְֽהֹוָ֗ה יִשְׁמׇר־צֵאתְךָ֥ וּבוֹאֶ֑ךָ מֵ֝עַתָּ֗ה וְעַד־עוֹלָֽם׃ {פ}

8- The LORD will guard your going and coming, now and forever.

[hiddurmitzvah]

This is a jewish tombstone

from a small hungarian village, Tuzsér. It is standing in the middle of litter, as the place of the jewish cemetery is nowadays used as a garbage dump.

When I found this place, I knew I should include it in the zine that we created on the Art of Abandoned Jewish Cemeteries of Hungary, since we wanted to raise attention to the sad state of jewish cemeteries of the country. As it is visible by the blessing hands symbol, this tombstone belongs to a kohanite person, who is a descendant just like all other kohanites, of the high priests of the Temple.

What we can read at the tombstone is just a short line, which says Here lies the elderly Yehuda, son of Cvi Ha-kohen, died in 1906.

This is how it ended up eventually in the Art of Abandoned Jewish Cemeteries zine, the symbol was reproduced with lino cut and the surrounding text explains the symbols and share a bit about the history of the community of Tuzsér:

If you wanna support our project to preserve the memory of the former jewish communities of the hungarian countryside along with the cemeteries themselves, you can order from the zine here:

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I'm a bit late, but anyways.

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[translation: suddenly i realize that the haggadah is sort of a musical] x

[hiddurmitzvah]

Matzah holder with seder plate from the collection of the Hungarian Ethnographic Museum

This stand, carved from tropical wood and covered with embroidered textile sheets, was collected by Gyula Grünbaum in Sopronkeresztúron (now Deutschkreutz, Austria) in 1913. From the 17th century onwards, important Jewish communities were established in the seven field towns of the Esterházy estate. The famous Talmudic school of Sopronkeresztúr, known in Hebrew as Zelem, attracted young people from far and wide. Most of the Jewish objects in the Ethnographic Museum come from this village. In the early 1910s, Grünbaum collected ritual objects in Sopronkeresztúr that were rarely or never used by the Jewish community. Both the changing customs in the traditionalist settlement and the worn condition of the objects could have justified their sale.

Four carved columns hold the three shelves for the maces and the fourth, upper shelf, the 'seder tray', which holds six bowls on legs for ritual food. On the textile covering are embroidered Torah quotations in Hebrew for the Passover feast: "And the people carried their dough before it was boiled, tying their pots into their clothes on their shoulders." (Exodus 12:34) "And they baked the dough, (...) a leavened cakes" (Exodus 12:39) "And they ate the flesh that night, roasting it on the fire, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs." (Exodus 12:8).

#seder plate #seder #judaica #jewish tradition #art

[hiddurmitzvah]

[hiddurmitzvah]

Currently working on an artistic project dedicated to abandoned jewish cemeteries (in Hungary) and their amazing symbols, such as these lions! Please check the Art of Abandoned Jewish Cemeteries site to follow for more details of the project.

[hiddurmitzvah]

Muslim and Jewish neighbours in a Jewish house in Istanbul, 1980s

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Jewish man praying for German victory in WWI. 1916

100,000 Jews served in the German military in WWI, and 12,000 perished.

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Shiviti Plaque from Istanbul, Ottoman Turkey, 1838, made by Moshe Ganbash. From the collections of the Jewish Museum in NY.

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Sephardi & Romaniote Jewish Women's Clothing in the Byzantine and Ottoman Periods, illustrated by Nikos Stavroulakis

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Glasgolem, 2022

earlier this year i was honored to be asked to do the cover for issue #1 of Golem Zine, a series showcasing voices from lesser-known Jewish communities around the world. this first issue celebrated Jewish life & culture in Glasgow, and creating this cover involved a deep dive into the history of Glaswegian Jewish art & architecture.

[hiddurmitzvah]

Currently working on an artistic project dedicated to abandoned jewish cemeteries (in Hungary) and their amazing symbols, such as these lions! Please check the Art of Abandoned Jewish Cemeteries site to follow for more details of the project.

[hiddurmitzvah]

Sephardi & Romaniote Jewish Women's Clothing in the Byzantine and Ottoman Periods, illustrated by Nikos Stavroulakis

[hiddurmitzvah]

Family members gather around a tomb in Kletsk, Belarus, 1932. Before the Holocaust, Jews comprised up to 80% of Kletsk's total population.