The Magnes Collectionof Jewish Art and Life

The Bancroft LibraryUniversity of California

Berkeley

Warren Hellman GalleryJanuary 22-June 28, 2013

Case Study No. 3 | Sound Objects takes the “Case Studies” series of The Magnes in a new direction. The exhibition was created in collaboration with the students of the undergraduate research seminar, Performing Texts: Music, Liturgy and Jewish Life, offered by the Department of Music of the University of California, Berkeley, and taught by Francesco Spagnolo at The Magnes in the Fall of 2012. During the semester, students worked closely with the holdings of The Magnes and developed research projects describing select items included in the exhibition.

Francesco Spagnolo, CuratorJulie Franklin, RegistrarTed Foley, Head Preparator

In collaboration with UC Berkeley students:

• Nelia Barkhordar—Integrative Biology, 2013 • Matthew Chunghyuk—Music, 2013• Jennifer Kashani—Psychology, 2013• Kayla Kliger—Spanish, 2013 • Benjamin Kramarz—M.A., Folklore, 2014 • Pauline Loghmana—Psychology, 2013• Benjamin Rangell—History and Near Eastern

Languages (Hebrew), 2012• Wing Yan Yeung—Music, 2012

Point your smartphone or tablet to bit.ly/sound-objects to play exhibition sounds. Sounds were created with an iPhone 4S using the SoundCloud app.

Sound Objects combines the study of Jewish material culturewiththeemergingfieldofsoundstudiesandinvestigates the role of objects that emit sound during synagogue rituals. The exhibition includes a selection of more than sixty objects, textiles, books, manuscripts and photographs from The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life documenting ritual in the global Diaspora. It also integrates on-site display with online resources that comprise images, texts, and the sounds recorded by “playing” several of the ritual objects on view.

Many of the objects used in the course of synagogue rituals generate sound. Some are designed to produce specificsounds,suchastheshofar, the horn blown in the synagogue during the month of Elul (preceding the New Year), on Rosh Ha-shanah and Yom Kippur, or the noisemakers used during the reading of the Book of Esther on Purim. Since the process of Jewish Emancipation in 19th-century Europe, many synagogues have incorporated musical instruments into the ritual, including the organ. But there are many other ritual objects that are often designed to emit sound—the ones dedicated to the embellishing, storing, carrying and reading of the Torah scrolls, as well as those used in the havdalah ceremony that marks the end of the Sabbath and holidays—even though sound-making is not their primary function.

Jewish ritual sound objects are not musical instruments per se. Rather, they are at times adorned with pendants or bells, or made with movable parts, which rattle, ring, or otherwise make sound when they are used. Their sonic power is only apparently unintentional. The sounds they emit cannot be avoided, and sound-making parts are constitutive of their shapes, forms, and functions.

While the sounds made by voices and musical instruments during ritual are closely regulated by rabbinic authorities, the sounds made by objects are not. A performative approach to the study of ritual objects may thus shed a different light on an important aspect of Jewish life outside the scope of normative religion, and yet one that is located at its very core: ritual, including the public reading of the Hebrew Bible in synagogue liturgy.

—Francesco Spagnolo, Curator

Case ARitual noise

According to the Book of Esther, the holiday of Purim was instituted to remember the deliverance of the Jews from Haman’s plot to kill them. It is celebrated in the month of Adar by sending portions of food to friends, making gifts to the poor, eating a festive meal, and reading the Book of Esther (megillah) in the synagogue. Whenever the name of Haman is read, children and adult congregants often make loud noises with rattles to blot out the character’s memory, along with that of other evil-doers who are considered to be descendants of ‘Amalek. Special objects have been created across the Jewish Diaspora to assist in this action, a rare case in which noisemaking in the context of synagogue ritual is tolerated by religious authorities.

1. Rectangular Purim noisemaker Palestine, 1918Wood and metalJudah L. Magnes Museum through the Benjamin Goor Acquisition Fund, Mordecai and Gila Rozin Collection, 78.78.36

2. Purim plateGermany, 18th centuryPainted faience Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase with funds provided by Dr. Elliott Zaleznik, 81.58

Plate for delivering Purim gifts, depicting the parade honoring Mordecai riding a horse and dressed in royal apparel, led by Haman. Haman holds a noisemaker in his right hand. The Hebrew inscriptions read: shelach manot ish le-re’ehu u-[ma]tanot la-evyonim (“send portions one to another and gifts to the poor,” after Esther 9:22) around the edge; and kakhah ye’aseh la-ish asher ha-melekh chafetz bi-yqaro (“Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delights to honor,” Esther 6:11)abovethefigurines.

3. Flag-shaped Purim noisemaker for women or childrenAustria, 19th centurySilver and ivoryJudah L. Magnes Museum purchase, 76.270

Decorated with a six-pointed star and inscribed in Hebrew with the words arur haman asher biqesh leabdi (“Cursed be Haman who asked to destroy me”), from the liturgical poem shoshanat ya’aqov, sung in Ashkenazi communities after the reading of the Book of Esther on Purim.

Case BSounds of the Torah

In order to be read during synagogue liturgy, the scrolls of the Hebrew Bible are carried from their storage loca-tion to the reading area and then returned after use. Ritual performance is, at times, accompanied by the sounds created by those objects dedicated to adorn thescrolls—cases,crowns,finials,andshields—orbythose designed to assist the reading by pointing at the text, which are often made of metal or wood, and include movable parts.

1. Torah scroll case and finials dedicated to a couple named Simchah and Shlomoh YitzchaqKurdistan or Western Iran, via Israel, 19th and 20th centuriesWood, silver, cotton, velvet and paper insertsGift of the Diaspora Yeshiva (Jerusalem), 75.288

2. Torah pointer with hand-shaped tip and twelve bells Yemen, 19th centurySilverJudah L. Magnes Museum purchase, 73.45

3. Torah pointer with quill-shaped tip, leaf-shaped finial and metal clappers, inscribed Yitzchaq Daniel BamnolkerMumbai, India, 19th centurySilverJudah L. Magnes Museum purchase, Bernard Kimmel Collection, 68.79.3

4. Torah pointer with quill-shaped tip and two bells, inscribed torat adonay temimah meshivat nafesh (“God’s Torah is perfect, restoring the soul,” Psalms 19:8)Yemen, 20th centurySilverJudah L. Magnes Museum purchase with funds provided by Harry Blumenthal, 82.25.1

5. Torah pointer with hand-shaped tip and carved wooden bead, inscribed torah tzivah lanu mosheh (“Moses commanded us the Torah,” Deuteronomy 33:4) Eastern Europe, 18th centuryWood, giltGift of Dr. and Mrs. Matthew Ganz in memory of Samuel Ganz, 77.256

6. Torah crown dedicated to members of the Ashke-naz and Kunstler families[North Africa], 20th centurySilver plating on metal, plasticGift of Mr. and Mrs. Max Eis in honor of Pam Levinson’s Bat Mitzvah, 76.283

7. Torah shield with floral motifs, columns, rampant lions, birds, and three bellsPoland, 20th centurySilver and brassJudah L. Magnes Museum purchase, 76.273.1

8. Torah finial with crown-shaped top, surmounting eagle, and fourteen bellsSan Francisco, Calif., 19th centurySterling silverGift of Congregation Beth Israel-Judea, WJHC 2006.011.3 a

9. Torah finial with architectural and floral motifs, depictions of Jewish ritual objects, movable ele-ments and seven bellsO. Fini, silversmithItaly, 1837Silver and brassJudah L. Magnes Museum purchase through the Benja-min Goor Acquisition Fund, 77.333 b

Lower tier includes ritual objects of the Temple of Jeru-salem: hands spread in the priestly blessing position; the Ark of the Covenant with cherubs and the Hebrew word, shaday; the Tablets of the Law with the Decalogue; a hanging lamp (ner tamid);aburningflame;apriestlyvest-ment inscribed with the Hebrew word, me’il; a decorative shield; and a seven-branched candelabrum (menorah).

10. Torah finial with floral motifs, dolphins, a crown, a surmounting lion, and seven bellsUnited States, n.d.Parcel gilt silver67.224 b

11. Torah finial with eagles, a crown, a lion, and nine bells, honoring Joseph Lazarus Löwenberg (1774-1839), Hoffaktor of the Jewish community of Hohen-ems, AustriaFranz Anton Gutwein (1759-1805), silversmithAugsburg, Germany, 1799-1800Gilt silverGift of Arthur, Nathan and Leonard Norack in memory of Ida Norack, 73.11 b

12. Torah finial with hand-shaped top and six bells, dedi-cated by Meir Chay Levy to the memory of Leah de Levy Iran, 19th-20th centuriesSilverGift of Seymour Fromer, 2008.2.1

13. Torah finial with floral motifs, hand-shaped top engraved with the Hebrew word shaday, and eleven three-beaded clappersIndia, n.d.SilverJudah L. Magnes Museum purchase, Bernard Kimmel Collection, 68.79.1 b, bb

14. Torah finial with orb surmounted by a crown made of Hebrew letters spelling mi-tziyon tetze to-rah (“Out of Zion the Torah comes forth,” Isaiah 2:3)Ludwig Wolpert (Germany, Palestine, Israel, and United States, 1900-1981), sculptorSilverJudah L. Magnes Museum purchase, 97.35 b

15. Torah finial with floral motifs, engraved Hebrew letters, and eight clappersIran, 19th centurySilverGift of Seymour Fromer, 2008.2.2

16. Torah finial with floral motifs, crown-shaped top, and five bellsMorocco, 18th centuryBrassJudah L. Magnes Museum Purchase, Bernard Kimmel Collection, 67.226 b

Case C Cantors The role of synagogue cantor (in Hebrew, chazan) evolved over time into a musical and pastoral profession (or voluntary service to the community). Its primary purpose, however, is that of sounding out—rather than “setting to music”—the liturgy, including the texts of the prayers, of liturgical poetry, and of the Hebrew Bible. To this day, the cantor embodies the tension between the dimensions of sound and of music in Jewish ritual. 1. Robe and prayer shawl for the High Holy Days, worn by Cantors Jerry Grodin of Congregation Beth Jacob in Redwood City and Paul Gardner of Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco, California Bentley and Simon, Inc., New York, 20th century Textile, plastic Gift of Paul Gardner, 92.69 a, b 2. Bow tie worn by Cantor Jonas of Hildesheim, Germany Ott & Heinemann, Frankfurt am Mein, Germany, [before 1940] Silk 81.13.2 3. Cantor’s hat United States, 20th century Silk and leather Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase with funds provided by Dr. Elliott Zaleznik, 78.4.66

4. Harry Lieberman (Poland and United States, 1880-1983), Blowing the Shofar United States, ca. 1975 Oil on canvas board Gift of Ethan and Greta Hamm, 2003.4 5. le-shanah tovah tikatevu. A happy New Year Bilingual pop-up greeting card for the Jewish New Year Hebrew and English Germany, n.d. Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase, 96.40.3

Case D Havdalah | Separation The ceremony marking the end of Sabbaths and festivals (havdalah) is introduced by blessings over wine, aromatic spices and light, each marked by objects that assist in the ritual. Spice boxes and candle holders may be complemented by bells or made of movable parts, which create sound during use. 1. Spice box in fish form, with articulated movable body Poland, 19th century Silver, semi-precious stone Gift of Max Eis, 69.76 2. Spice box in tower form with hinged door, hinged flag, four eagles and four bells United Kingdom, 1915-1930 Silver Judah L. Magnes Museum Purchase in honor of Magnes Docents of 1986, 86.63 3. Spice box in tower form with five hinged flags and a bell Italy, 19th century Silver 86.0.12 4. Havdalah candle holder with two bells Jerusalem, Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts, 20th century Silver and semi-precious stone Gift of Mrs. Mary Schussheim, 82.20.2

Harps, I 5. Anonymous, Jeune fille d’Israël Dopler, Paris, 19th century Engraving Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase through the Benjamin Goor Acquisition Fund, 80.2.22

6. Abel Pann (Abba Pfeffermann; Latvia or Belarus, Palestine and Israel, 1883-1963), Jubal: Father of All That Handle Harp and Pipe—Genesis IV-21 From the portfolio, bereshit. mi-beriat ha-’olam ‘ad ha-mabul / Genesis. From the creation until the deluge, Jerusalem, Chevrat Eretz Yisrael le-hotzaot omanutiyot, [1925], No. 25 Color lithograph Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Leon Kolb, 75.143

Case E The Voice of the Shofar

The shofar, an animal’s horn prepared for use as a musical instrument, is the only ancient Jewish liturgical instrument that survived the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem in the year 70 CE, and it is still in use. First mentioned in Exodus 19:16, it was sounded to proclaim the New year, the Jubilee Year, and as a signal and a call to war. In synagogue liturgy, it is sounded on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and in the month pre-ceding them (Elul). According to the Talmud and the Shulkhan ‘arukh, a shofar should be made of a ram’s or wild goat’s horn, both of which are naturally curved. The horn may not be painted, but can be gilded or carved with artistic designs, without modifying the mouthpiece.

1. Carved and engraved shofar, inscribed in Hebrew with verses from Psalms 81:4-5 (“Blast the shofar at the new moon, at the full moon for our feast-day. For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob”) and 98:6 (“With trumpets and sound of the horn”)Germany, 17th centuryHorn, waxJudah L. Magnes Museum purchase, Siegfried S. Strauss collection, 67.1.15.22

2. Carved and engraved shofar from the Pinkas synagoguePrague, 18th centuryHornJudah L. Magnes Museum purchase, Siegfried S. Strauss collection, 67.1.15.24

3. Engraved shofar with lamb-shaped ring carved at horn’s openingGermany, 17th centuryHornJudah L. Magnes Museum purchase, Siegfried S. Strauss collection, 67.1.15.21

4. Carved shofarGermany, 18th centuryHornJudah L. Magnes Museum purchase, Siegfried S. Strauss collection, 67.1.15.23

5. Carved shofarLodz, Poland, 19th centuryHornJudah L. Magnes Museum Purchase, Bernard Kimmel Collection, 76.234

6. Shofar with carved ornamental holes at horn’s openingMorocco, 19th-20th centuriesHornJudah L. Magnes Museum Purchase, Bernard Kimmel Collection, 68.10

7. Shofar Yemen, via Israel, 19th-20th centuriesHornJudah L. Magnes Museum purchase, 82.24.3

8. ShofarIsrael, 20th centuryHornGift of Mrs. Albert Elkus, 68.88

9. ShofarYemen, via Israel, 19th-20th centuriesHornJudah L. Magnes Museum purchase through the Benja-min Goor Acquisition Fund, 80.2.13

10. Carved shofar from Knesseth Israel SynagogueTala, Maharashtra, India, 20th centuryHornGift of Shalom Abraham in memory of his father, 76.202

11. Shofar from Congregation Sherith Israel, San FranciscoHornGift of Congregation Sherith Israel, WJHC 1968.006.6

Drawers (from left to right)

Drawer One Postcards

1. Blowing the Shofar. Sabbath Studies. Photograph by Arnold Eagle, WPA Project, 1937Bilingual greeting card for the Jewish New YearEnglish and HebrewNew York, Museum of the City of New York, n.d.Gift of Seymour Fromer, 79.17.7

2. Das Schofarblasen am Neujahrsfest. le-shanah tovah. Hertzliche Glückwünsche (The Shofar blowing on the New Year. Happy New Year. Heartfelt congratulations)Bilingual greeting card for the Jewish New YearGerman and HebrewFrankfurt am Main, A. I. Hoffmann, postmarked in 1902Gift of Jacqueline and David Berg, 88.26.5.3

3. le-shanah tovah tikatevu. A happy New YearBilingual pop-up greeting card for the Jewish New YearHebrew and Englishn.d.Gift of Dr. Elliott Zaleznik, 77.30.5

4. le-shanah tovah tikatevu. A happy New YearBilingual pop-up greeting card for the Jewish New YearHebrew and Englishn.d.86.0.5

5. Schopharblasen am Rosch-haschanah (Neujahrfest) (Shofar blowing on Rosh Hashanah. New Year)Postcard reproduction of an engraving by Bernard Picart (18th century)Berlin, Joseph Spiro, n.d.Gift of Serge Klein, 92.28.4

6. Das Fest Pürim. Vorlesung des Buches Esther in der Synagoge (The Festival of Purim. The reading of the Book of Esther in the synagogue) Postcard reproduction of an engraving from Paul Chris-tian Kirchner, Jüdisches Ceremoniel (1724)Berlin, Joseph Spiro,n.d.Gift of Serge Klein, 92.28.17

7. yehudi me-’edot ha-mizrach qore ba-torah. An Oriental Jew Reading the TorahHerzliya, Israel, Palphot, postmarked in 1956Postcard2013.0.1

Drawer TwoCantorial Texts

1. Josef Singer, avodat shaliach tzibur... Awaudas Scheliach Zibur. Neuestes vollständiges Handbuch zum Gebrauche für Cantoren (The Service of the Community’s Envoy. New Complete Manual for Use by Cantors)German and HebrewVienna-Budapest, Joseph Schlesinger, 1906

2. Wilhelm Flamm, moreh le-shaliach tzibur. Handbuch für Cantoren... (Manual for Cantors)German and HebrewPrague, Freund, 1868

3. Juda[h] Roswald, chazanut le-shalosh regalim. Israelitische Gesänge der dreÿ Festtage... Isra-ellitische Gesänge der zweÿ Festtagen (r[osh] ha[shanah] - ve-y[om] k[ipur])... Manuscript collection of cantorial music for Festivals and High Holy DaysGerman and HebrewNeubrunn, Thuringia, Germany, 1830Ms. B14, 2

Drawer ThreeHarps, II

1. Wimpel (Binder for Torah Scrolls made from a circumcision cloth) depicting a harpBechhofen, Germany, 1742Embroidery on linenJudah L. Magnes Museum purchase, Siegfried S. Strauss collection, 67.1.21.17

Ritual textile inscribed in Hebrew for a child named Da-vid, son of Yonah, born on Monday, 9th of Sivan, [5]502 (correspondingtoJune11,1742).Thefirstwordembroi-dered on linen is the child’s name, David, illustrated by the adjacent depiction of a harp.

2. King David playing the harp17th centuryTempera on vellumGift of Rabbi Irving F. Reichert, 76.306

3. Souvenir desk setJerusalem, Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts, 20th centuryOlive woodGift of Mrs. Mary Schussheim, 85.35.1 a, f

Themotifofaharpbywillowtreesandflowingwaterthat characterizes this souvenir from Palestine is a visual representation of Psalm 137, 1-2: “By the rivers of Baby-lon, there we sat and we wept, when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst thereof we hanged our harps.”

Drawer FourThe Shofar in the Text

1. Painted manuscript leaf highlighting the word shofarGermany or Northern Italy, 15th centuryHebrewJudah L. Magnes Museum purchase through a gift from Mr. & Mrs. Leon Mandelson, 68.106

Painted Machzor (High Holiday Prayer Book) leaf writ-ten in square Ashkenazi Hebrew script, containing text from the shofarot section of the Musaf Service of Rosh Ha-shanah. The page on recto includes a poetic inser-tion (piyyut) with incipit esa deyi ve-tzedek (“I will rise my thoughts in righteousness”), attributed to Eleazar b. Ya’aqovKallir.Thefirstletterofthepoem(aleph) is il-luminated with gold leaf, and the subsequent verses (ar-ranged in a double alphabetical acrostic beginning with the letter alef) are written alternatively in red and black ink. Each verse ends with the word shofar, alternatively written in red and black ink, so that each line beginning in black ends in red and vice-versa.

2. sidur tefilot be-shem adonay el ‘olam Manuscript Prayer Book with notation for sounding the shofar on the Jewish New YearYemen, 1797 Hebrew LIB 78.5.2

Bound manuscript written in square Yemenite Hebrew script containing the text of the prayers for the week-days, Shabbat, High Holy Days, and Festivals with an anonymous commentary and miscellaneous liturgical, paraliturgical and rabbinic texts, bound together with a selection from the Mishnah and a Tiqun Purim. Page 85 recto includes the indications for sounding the shofar with a graphic representation of the shape of each sound.

3. Manuscript instructions for the ba’al toqea’ (per-son sounding the shofar)Attributed to Loeb Hertz Zunz (1775-1831)Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 19th centuryInk on parchmentJudah L. Magnes Museum purchase, Siegfried S. Strauss collection, 67.1.15.37