Abstract
The article deals with the development of three accessories of the Sephardic Torah scroll: the Torah binder–a narrow and long strip which fastened both parts of the scroll; the Torah wrapper–which protects the parchment; and the Torah mantle–the exterior covering of the Torah scroll. These textile accessories originate in the Talmudic mapppah/ miṭpaḥat , a square piece of fabric which, in the ancient period, was used to wrap the Torah scroll. This object turned out to be the origin of the European means of protecting and adorning the Torah scroll. While in Ashkenazi communities only the Binder and the Mantle are customary, the uniqueness of the Sephardi tradition is an additional accessory–the Wrapper. The Wrapper, a fabric equal in height to that of the parchment, is wound around the staves, and is customary to this very day in the Sephardic Diaspora. Although the Binder and the Mantle are common to all European and Sephardi communities, in the latter these ceremonial objects have unique visual features. One of them is the use of precious fabrics, mainly brocades and gold embroidered fabrics. Such a magnificent background did not encourage the development of dedicatory inscriptions, on the one hand, but on the other it did encourage the recycling of precious textiles that had previously served in other capacities in daily life. The article is based on the documentation of ceremonial objects from various collections as well as on Rabbinic literature and field research in Sephardi synagogues in Israel and abroad.
Highlights
We note that when the Jewish refugees from Spain reached the Balkans with their Torah scroll accessories, the objects used for the same purpose by the Romaniot Jews were quite different–wooden Torah cases and the mi pa at. 69 It is in this light that one should understand a responsum written by R
The crowded patterns of these costly textiles did not permit the natural evolution of dedicatory inscrip-t tions–a characteristic feature of Torah scroll accessories in the Balkans until recent times
The use of the “Gate of Heaven” as a motif in Turkish Torah ark curtains was based on the standard design of Muslim prayer rugs; but the foreign element was “converted to Judaism” by the
Summary
Other popular materials are satin, with various types of embroidery in silver and silk thread. Among the embroidery techniques used for the latter are satin stitch embroidery, raised embroidery on padding, and lamella embroidery These types of embroidery reflect different tech-n niques, some professional and some amateur; they are characteristic of local traditions of embroidery in rich clothing and domestic design. 10b); analysis of their shapes shows that they originated in an elegant woman’s dress In this group of binders there is no connnection between the embroidered pattern and the rectangular cut of the binder: the floral motives are cut off by the binder’s edges. Such binders were made from a rectangular piece of linen, embroidered with silk thread. As we shall see below, the materials used for Torah mantles came from similar sources
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