Abstract

In Ashkenazi Jewish communities, it is customary to promise a donation to charitable causes after being called up to the Torah on Shabbat and on holidays—there is even a Yiddish term for it: shnodern. In our article, we will look at various synagogue objects related to this type of charity, focusing on Hungarian lands. First, we will look at signs and plaques, affixed to the bimah, which mention possible purposes for the charity. Second, since it is forbidden to make a note of, let alone fulfill the promise of a charitable donation on Shabbat, we will look at objects that show ways that these donations were recorded.

Highlights

  • Being called up to the Torah is considered a special honor, as are other activities performed around the Torah scroll

  • In some historical periods and in certain regions and communities, it became the custom to auction the honors received around the Torah, and in others, to offer a charitable donation as an expression of gratitude for them

  • There is a term for this specific type of charitable donation: snóderolni (‘to donate’) and snóder (‘donation’)—which is derived from the Yiddish shnodern, and in Yiddish from a phrase in that

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Summary

Introduction

Being called up to the Torah is considered a special honor, as are other activities performed around the Torah scroll. In some historical periods and in certain regions and communities, it became the custom to auction the honors received around the Torah, and in others, to offer a charitable donation as an expression of gratitude for them. This latter is often done in the framework of the Misheberakh (‘May He, who blesses’) prayer recited on behalf of the person called up to the Torah. The largest collection of photos of synagogue interiors in historical Hungary is available online in the Hungarian Jewish Museum and Archives..

Fixtures and Signs on the Bimah
Shnoder-sign the Budapest
Charitable Causes on Shnoder-Signs
Shnoder-sign from the the Jewish
Shnoder-sign
Keeping
Debrecen
Balassagyarmat
Sources Regarding the Use of Shnoder-Books
15. Mass-printed
Full Text
Paper version not known

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