COUNT AWAY AND READY THAT BONFIRE: LAG B’OMER IS TOMORROW! Take the time this counting of the omer to check out this calendar. During the time of the Second Temple, there was a commandment to bring a set amount of barley on the second day of Passover. This set amount of barley was known as an omer. After counting 49 days from the giving of the omer, on the 50th day there was a commandment to bring the first offering of the year to theTemple. Although there is no longer a Temple, Jews are still obliged to count the 49 days. This commandment to count the omer comes from the Biblical verse: “And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of wave offering – the day after the Sabbath – you shall count off seven weeks” (Lev. 23:15). The process of counting led to the creation of calendars to aid in the process of the omer. This particular calendar (mid 20th century) is written on parchment and is illuminated with different images. The parchments are housed in a case that was made later. There are two knobs on either side for advancing the parchment. The wooden case is decorated with silver appliqué engraving that have the names of the 12 tribes inscribed along with engravings of animals and an abbreviated name of G-d.  There is little known about this calendar, but the initials N.D. is found on the bottom of the case which could perhaps be the name of the owner. Omer Calendar, 20th Century. Collection of Yeshiva University Museum (F341)

COUNT AWAY AND READY THAT BONFIRE: LAG B’OMER IS TOMORROW!

Take the time this counting of the omer to check out this calendar.

During the time of the Second Temple, there was a commandment to bring a set amount of barley on the second day of Passover. This set amount of barley was known as an omer. After counting 49 days from the giving of the omer, on the 50th day there was a commandment to bring the first offering of the year to theTemple. Although there is no longer a Temple, Jews are still obliged to count the 49 days.

This commandment to count the omer comes from the Biblical verse: “And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of wave offering – the day after the Sabbath – you shall count off seven weeks” (Lev. 23:15). The process of counting led to the creation of calendars to aid in the process of the omer.

This particular calendar (mid 20th century) is written on parchment and is illuminated with different images. The parchments are housed in a case that was made later. There are two knobs on either side for advancing the parchment. The wooden case is decorated with silver appliqué engraving that have the names of the 12 tribes inscribed along with engravings of animals and an abbreviated name of G-d.  There is little known about this calendar, but the initials N.D. is found on the bottom of the case which could perhaps be the name of the owner.

Omer Calendar, 20th Century. Collection of Yeshiva University Museum (F341)

1 year ago  15 notes View high resolution

DOOR TO ANOTHER WORLD - THE BEN-EZRA SYNAGOGUE ARK DOOR Coming to YU Museum in 2013, the Ben-Ezra Synagogue. Read on to find out more! From “Treasures from the Ben Ezra Synagogue” on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Bizantium and Islam: Age of Transition exhibition blog.  by Yitzchak Schwartz, Research Associate, Yeshiva University Monday, April 2, 2012 Several of the Jewish manuscripts on view in Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition, including the example shown above, are thought to have come from the Cairo Genizah, a repository of communal, religious, and business documents housed in the attic of the tenth-century Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo that was re-discovered in 1896 by Cambridge scholar Solomon Schechter The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore and the Yeshiva University Museum in New York City co-own another treasure from the Ben Ezra Synagogue: one of the doors of the synagogue’s ark, the compartment where the scriptures are kept. According to an article in the Baltimore Sun (August 30, 2000), the door was discovered at an estate sale in central Florida in 1993 or 1994 and purchased for $37.50. After experts—including Byzantium and Islam catalogue contributor Steven Fine—identified the panel as originating from the Ben Ezra Synagogue, and testing confirmed that it dated to the eleventh century, it was acquired by the museums as a joint purchase. Read the rest of this discussion on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Bizantium and Islam: Age of Transition exhibition blog. Image: Panel from a Torah Shrine, ca. 1040. Cairo, Egypt. Wood (walnut) with traces of paint and gilt. 34 3/8 x 14 7/16 x 1 in. (87.3 x 36.7 x 2.5 cm). The Walters Art Museum and Yeshiva University Museum (64.181)

DOOR TO ANOTHER WORLD - THE BEN-EZRA SYNAGOGUE ARK DOOR

Coming to YU Museum in 2013, the Ben-Ezra Synagogue. Read on to find out more!

From “Treasures from the Ben Ezra Synagogue” on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Bizantium and Islam: Age of Transition exhibition blog. 

by Yitzchak Schwartz, Research Associate, Yeshiva University

Monday, April 2, 2012

Several of the Jewish manuscripts on view in Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition, including the example shown above, are thought to have come from the Cairo Genizah, a repository of communal, religious, and business documents housed in the attic of the tenth-century Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo that was re-discovered in 1896 by Cambridge scholar Solomon Schechter

The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore and the Yeshiva University Museum in New York City co-own another treasure from the Ben Ezra Synagogue: one of the doors of the synagogue’s ark, the compartment where the scriptures are kept. According to an article in the Baltimore Sun (August 30, 2000), the door was discovered at an estate sale in central Florida in 1993 or 1994 and purchased for $37.50. After experts—including Byzantium and Islam catalogue contributor Steven Fine—identified the panel as originating from the Ben Ezra Synagogue, and testing confirmed that it dated to the eleventh century, it was acquired by the museums as a joint purchase.

Read the rest of this discussion on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Bizantium and Islam: Age of Transition exhibition blog.

Image: Panel from a Torah Shrine, ca. 1040. Cairo, Egypt. Wood (walnut) with traces of paint and gilt. 34 3/8 x 14 7/16 x 1 in. (87.3 x 36.7 x 2.5 cm). The Walters Art Museum and Yeshiva University Museum (64.181)

1 year ago  10 notes View high resolution

CAIRO ARK DOOR — SO NICE TO SEE THIS IN THE MORNING… Thanks letmypeopleshow! Funny, you do look Jewish:  One day in the early 1990s, Barry Ragone, a Miami Beach dentist, spotted a wood panel in an auction-house storeroom in Fort Lauderdale. It had Hebrew writing on it, and it looked old. He bought it for $37.50. After years of research, Ragone discovered that it was a lot older than he’d thought—a thousand years old, give or take. According to experts in medieval Jewish art, it was originally the door to a Torah ark in Cairo’s Ben Ezra synagogue, where Maimonides prayed and the Geniza was housed. At first, Ragone wanted the door to be in a Jewish institution. But after speaking with Gary Vikan, director of Baltimore’s Walters Art Museum, he changed his mind. He liked Vikan’s concept of a medieval-art gallery where Christian, Jewish, and Islamic art are commingled, showing how the cultures overlapped. And he liked the idea of a portal linking the Jewish community to the museum. For a sum that was less than half of the $1 million he believed the panel to be worth, he partially sold, partially donated it to the Walters, which acquired it in partnership with Yeshiva University Museum. The object will be featured in a show about Jewish life in medieval Egypt opening at the Walters in fall 2012 and later traveling to YUM.   The Walters is one of a number of mainstream museums that are intensifying efforts to incorporate Jewish ritual objects—everything from ancient ceremonial silver to cutting-edge Hanukah lamps— into exhibitions, collections, and programming. Read more in my story “Out of the Ghetto,” today on tabletmag.com.

CAIRO ARK DOOR — SO NICE TO SEE THIS IN THE MORNING…

Thanks letmypeopleshow!

Funny, you do look Jewish: 

One day in the early 1990s, Barry Ragone, a Miami Beach dentist, spotted a wood panel in an auction-house storeroom in Fort Lauderdale. It had Hebrew writing on it, and it looked old. He bought it for $37.50. After years of research, Ragone discovered that it was a lot older than he’d thought—a thousand years old, give or take. According to experts in medieval Jewish art, it was originally the door to a Torah ark in Cairo’s Ben Ezra synagogue, where Maimonides prayed and the Geniza was housed.

At first, Ragone wanted the door to be in a Jewish institution. But after speaking with Gary Vikan, director of Baltimore’s Walters Art Museum, he changed his mind. He liked Vikan’s concept of a medieval-art gallery where Christian, Jewish, and Islamic art are commingled, showing how the cultures overlapped. And he liked the idea of a portal linking the Jewish community to the museum. For a sum that was less than half of the $1 million he believed the panel to be worth, he partially sold, partially donated it to the Walters, which acquired it in partnership with Yeshiva University Museum. The object will be featured in a show about Jewish life in medieval Egypt opening at the Walters in fall 2012 and later traveling to YUM.  

The Walters is one of a number of mainstream museums that are intensifying efforts to incorporate Jewish ritual objects—everything from ancient ceremonial silver to cutting-edge Hanukah lamps— into exhibitions, collections, and programming. Read more in my story “Out of the Ghetto,” today on tabletmag.com.

2 years ago  25 notes

COUNT AWAY AND READY THAT BONFIRE: LAG B’OMER IS TOMORROW! Take the time this counting of the omer to check out this calendar. During the time of the Second Temple, there was a commandment to bring a set amount of barley on the second day of Passover. This set amount of barley was known as an omer. After counting 49 days from the giving of the omer, on the 50th day there was a commandment to bring the first offering of the year to theTemple. Although there is no longer a Temple, Jews are still obliged to count the 49 days. This commandment to count the omer comes from the Biblical verse: “And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of wave offering – the day after the Sabbath – you shall count off seven weeks” (Lev. 23:15). The process of counting led to the creation of calendars to aid in the process of the omer. This particular calendar (mid 20th century) is written on parchment and is illuminated with different images. The parchments are housed in a case that was made later. There are two knobs on either side for advancing the parchment. The wooden case is decorated with silver appliqué engraving that have the names of the 12 tribes inscribed along with engravings of animals and an abbreviated name of G-d.  There is little known about this calendar, but the initials N.D. is found on the bottom of the case which could perhaps be the name of the owner. Omer Calendar, 20th Century. Collection of Yeshiva University Museum (F341)

COUNT AWAY AND READY THAT BONFIRE: LAG B’OMER IS TOMORROW!

Take the time this counting of the omer to check out this calendar.

During the time of the Second Temple, there was a commandment to bring a set amount of barley on the second day of Passover. This set amount of barley was known as an omer. After counting 49 days from the giving of the omer, on the 50th day there was a commandment to bring the first offering of the year to theTemple. Although there is no longer a Temple, Jews are still obliged to count the 49 days.

This commandment to count the omer comes from the Biblical verse: “And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of wave offering – the day after the Sabbath – you shall count off seven weeks” (Lev. 23:15). The process of counting led to the creation of calendars to aid in the process of the omer.

This particular calendar (mid 20th century) is written on parchment and is illuminated with different images. The parchments are housed in a case that was made later. There are two knobs on either side for advancing the parchment. The wooden case is decorated with silver appliqué engraving that have the names of the 12 tribes inscribed along with engravings of animals and an abbreviated name of G-d.  There is little known about this calendar, but the initials N.D. is found on the bottom of the case which could perhaps be the name of the owner.

Omer Calendar, 20th Century. Collection of Yeshiva University Museum (F341)

DOOR TO ANOTHER WORLD - THE BEN-EZRA SYNAGOGUE ARK DOOR Coming to YU Museum in 2013, the Ben-Ezra Synagogue. Read on to find out more! From “Treasures from the Ben Ezra Synagogue” on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Bizantium and Islam: Age of Transition exhibition blog.  by Yitzchak Schwartz, Research Associate, Yeshiva University Monday, April 2, 2012 Several of the Jewish manuscripts on view in Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition, including the example shown above, are thought to have come from the Cairo Genizah, a repository of communal, religious, and business documents housed in the attic of the tenth-century Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo that was re-discovered in 1896 by Cambridge scholar Solomon Schechter The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore and the Yeshiva University Museum in New York City co-own another treasure from the Ben Ezra Synagogue: one of the doors of the synagogue’s ark, the compartment where the scriptures are kept. According to an article in the Baltimore Sun (August 30, 2000), the door was discovered at an estate sale in central Florida in 1993 or 1994 and purchased for $37.50. After experts—including Byzantium and Islam catalogue contributor Steven Fine—identified the panel as originating from the Ben Ezra Synagogue, and testing confirmed that it dated to the eleventh century, it was acquired by the museums as a joint purchase. Read the rest of this discussion on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Bizantium and Islam: Age of Transition exhibition blog. Image: Panel from a Torah Shrine, ca. 1040. Cairo, Egypt. Wood (walnut) with traces of paint and gilt. 34 3/8 x 14 7/16 x 1 in. (87.3 x 36.7 x 2.5 cm). The Walters Art Museum and Yeshiva University Museum (64.181)

DOOR TO ANOTHER WORLD - THE BEN-EZRA SYNAGOGUE ARK DOOR

Coming to YU Museum in 2013, the Ben-Ezra Synagogue. Read on to find out more!

From “Treasures from the Ben Ezra Synagogue” on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Bizantium and Islam: Age of Transition exhibition blog. 

by Yitzchak Schwartz, Research Associate, Yeshiva University

Monday, April 2, 2012

Several of the Jewish manuscripts on view in Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition, including the example shown above, are thought to have come from the Cairo Genizah, a repository of communal, religious, and business documents housed in the attic of the tenth-century Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo that was re-discovered in 1896 by Cambridge scholar Solomon Schechter

The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore and the Yeshiva University Museum in New York City co-own another treasure from the Ben Ezra Synagogue: one of the doors of the synagogue’s ark, the compartment where the scriptures are kept. According to an article in the Baltimore Sun (August 30, 2000), the door was discovered at an estate sale in central Florida in 1993 or 1994 and purchased for $37.50. After experts—including Byzantium and Islam catalogue contributor Steven Fine—identified the panel as originating from the Ben Ezra Synagogue, and testing confirmed that it dated to the eleventh century, it was acquired by the museums as a joint purchase.

Read the rest of this discussion on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Bizantium and Islam: Age of Transition exhibition blog.

Image: Panel from a Torah Shrine, ca. 1040. Cairo, Egypt. Wood (walnut) with traces of paint and gilt. 34 3/8 x 14 7/16 x 1 in. (87.3 x 36.7 x 2.5 cm). The Walters Art Museum and Yeshiva University Museum (64.181)

CAIRO ARK DOOR — SO NICE TO SEE THIS IN THE MORNING… Thanks letmypeopleshow! Funny, you do look Jewish:  One day in the early 1990s, Barry Ragone, a Miami Beach dentist, spotted a wood panel in an auction-house storeroom in Fort Lauderdale. It had Hebrew writing on it, and it looked old. He bought it for $37.50. After years of research, Ragone discovered that it was a lot older than he’d thought—a thousand years old, give or take. According to experts in medieval Jewish art, it was originally the door to a Torah ark in Cairo’s Ben Ezra synagogue, where Maimonides prayed and the Geniza was housed. At first, Ragone wanted the door to be in a Jewish institution. But after speaking with Gary Vikan, director of Baltimore’s Walters Art Museum, he changed his mind. He liked Vikan’s concept of a medieval-art gallery where Christian, Jewish, and Islamic art are commingled, showing how the cultures overlapped. And he liked the idea of a portal linking the Jewish community to the museum. For a sum that was less than half of the $1 million he believed the panel to be worth, he partially sold, partially donated it to the Walters, which acquired it in partnership with Yeshiva University Museum. The object will be featured in a show about Jewish life in medieval Egypt opening at the Walters in fall 2012 and later traveling to YUM.   The Walters is one of a number of mainstream museums that are intensifying efforts to incorporate Jewish ritual objects—everything from ancient ceremonial silver to cutting-edge Hanukah lamps— into exhibitions, collections, and programming. Read more in my story “Out of the Ghetto,” today on tabletmag.com.

CAIRO ARK DOOR — SO NICE TO SEE THIS IN THE MORNING…

Thanks letmypeopleshow!

Funny, you do look Jewish: 

One day in the early 1990s, Barry Ragone, a Miami Beach dentist, spotted a wood panel in an auction-house storeroom in Fort Lauderdale. It had Hebrew writing on it, and it looked old. He bought it for $37.50. After years of research, Ragone discovered that it was a lot older than he’d thought—a thousand years old, give or take. According to experts in medieval Jewish art, it was originally the door to a Torah ark in Cairo’s Ben Ezra synagogue, where Maimonides prayed and the Geniza was housed.

At first, Ragone wanted the door to be in a Jewish institution. But after speaking with Gary Vikan, director of Baltimore’s Walters Art Museum, he changed his mind. He liked Vikan’s concept of a medieval-art gallery where Christian, Jewish, and Islamic art are commingled, showing how the cultures overlapped. And he liked the idea of a portal linking the Jewish community to the museum. For a sum that was less than half of the $1 million he believed the panel to be worth, he partially sold, partially donated it to the Walters, which acquired it in partnership with Yeshiva University Museum. The object will be featured in a show about Jewish life in medieval Egypt opening at the Walters in fall 2012 and later traveling to YUM.  

The Walters is one of a number of mainstream museums that are intensifying efforts to incorporate Jewish ritual objects—everything from ancient ceremonial silver to cutting-edge Hanukah lamps— into exhibitions, collections, and programming. Read more in my story “Out of the Ghetto,” today on tabletmag.com.

About:

YU Museum creates new ways to experience and interpret Jewish art and history. It is a source for new ideas and perspectives on historic events and cultural phenomena effecting everyone.

Visit YU Museum’s exhibitions and programs! They open the eyes of audiences to new perspectives on Jewish culture, historic events and cultural phenomena. They reveal the vitality and resonance of present-day art on Jewish themes, and reflect and re-interpret millennia of Jewish experiences for the present. Visit: @15 w16th st, NYC

Visit YU Museum @ www.YUMuseum.org

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