A Large Silver Russian Snuff Box, Late 19th Century. Hebrew - Judaica

A beautifully engraved silver snuff box from Jerusalem from the late 19th century is finely crafted and is a piece that reflects the rich cultural heritage and craftsmanship of the r...

A Silver Snuff Box Belonging to the Holy Mekubal Harav Yitzchak Kaduri. The Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri was born at the end of the 19th Century in Iraq, studied Torah and Kabbala...

Amazing and scarce JUDAICA object, we have here one of the most touching jewish objects we had for a long time, this small silver dowry box was made in Algeria in the early 19th century, it is all covered with symbols of jewish faith and of couples, the sliding lid has 2 flanking birds with hamsa (protective hand) on each side and a flower vase in the middle. one side shows two flanking lions with a tree in the middle and the other side shows again two big and two small birds with a flower bowl in the middle, front side has a key hole and next to it there is the Hebrew inscription ס״ט״" which says Siman tov or in English "a good sign" it is taken from the wedding blessing, underneath the lock there is another inscription with the name ״עזיזה בת אברהם בן חמו״ which is the name of the bride, her father and her grandfathers name. the box is full marked a lot of times with the silversmith mark, every side of the box is marked. this box was probably ordered by the grooms family to hold the jewelry they are giving to the bride as dowry, this type of objects are rare and there are just a few of them on museum collections. DOWRY (Heb. נְדֻנְיָה), the property a wife brings to her husband at marriage; the Yiddish equivalent, nadn, is from the same root. The custom of nedunyah became clearly defined and institutionalized only in the talmudic period. In biblical times, mohar (מֹהַר), whereby the groom bought his wife from her father (Gen. 24:53; Ex. 22:15–16; Hos. 3:2), was the accepted practice. It was then customary that the groom give the bride gifts, and that she bring certain property to her husband's home upon marriage: slaves, cattle, real estate, etc. (cf. Gen. 24:59–61; 29; Judg. 1:14ff.; I Kings 9:16). Evidence of the custom of nedunyah is to be found in Tobit (7:14; 8:21) and in the Assuan papyri (Cowley, Aramaic, nos. 15, 18). Gradually, mohar was superseded by the ketubbah custom according to which the husband merely assumed the responsibility of compensation to his wife in case he divorced her: he had to pay her 200 zuzim if she had been a virgin at the time of marriage, and 100 zuzim if a widow or divorcée (see *Ketubbah). By talmudic times, the institution of nedunyah was prevalent; the father gave a dowry to the bride since the daughter was excluded from paternal inheritance. Fifty zuzim (equivalent to the worth of 180 grams of silver) was the minimum amount a father was obliged to give to his daughter (Ket. 6:5). Parents usually gave much more, according to their social standing. Community funds provided the dowry for an orphan or a very poor girl (ibid.; cf. Sh. Ar., YD 251:8). In case of her father's death, the brothers of a minor girl were obliged to give her the minimum dowry, and the court estimated how much her father would have given her above the minimum dowry. The sum was then taken out of the father's estate and given to the daughter upon majority (Ket. 6:6; 68a–69b). In the absence of such an estimate, each daughter was entitled to receive one-tenth of the value of her father's estate in money, or in valuables (Yad, Ishut, 20:4–7; Sh. Ar., EH 113:4). If the father was unable or unwilling to pay the promised dowry at the betrothal ceremony, the groom could refuse to marry his bride (Ket. 13:5; Ket. 108b–109a). Insistence on exact payment of the promised dowry, however, was frowned upon by later rabbinic authorities (Rema to Sh. Ar., EH 2:1). In certain communities it was customary for the groom's father to make a dowry contribution equal to that of the bride's father (Ket. 102b). The dowry, whether given in real estate, slaves, money, or chattel was recorded in the marriage contract (the ketubbah) and in some instances one-third or one-fifth of the actual value of the dowry was added to the sum mentioned in the ketubbah. Based upon a decree enacted by *Simeon b. Shetah (first century C.E.), the Talmud ruled that the husband and his entire property were liable for compensation as stipulated in the ketubbah, either in case he died (when she collected the sum specified in the ketubbah from the heirs) or in case he divorced his wife (Ket. 82b). For the status of the dowry and the husband's rights and obligations, see below. The rabbinic enactments (Takkanot Shum) by R. Jacob *Tam and by the rabbinic synod of the communities of Speyer, Worms, and Mainz (Germany) stipulated that if a woman died...

This charming piece of jewish history in front of you is a one of kind modern Judaica object, This box used to hold the Etrog To protect the it during the holiday of Sukkot, it is traditionally Wrapped in silky flax fibers and stored in a special decorative box, mostly made from silver. Wolpert designed this amazing hand hammered Bauhaus style box in 1963-1964 while he was Working in New York. all of the boxes we could found from this design made by Wolpert have The upper part inscribed in a simple engraving with the phrase "Pri Etz Hadar" In Hebrew ״פרי עץ הדר״. the box in front of you is the only example in existence as far as we Know where the letters are also repoussé and also engraved, such a beautiful and hard to get Combination, the rest of the box is shaped as a modernistic Etrog, all the body of the box is Skillfully hand hammered in a way it reflects the light in a warm and calm way, a true Masterpiece of modern judaica by the great and important artist Ludwig Yehuda Wolpert. One of the the two great masters of 20th century Judaica. the Box is marked "WOLPERT" AND "STERLING" and the base has the engraved inscription : "ALAN WECHSLER GENERAL CHAIRMAN, ALLIED JEWISH APPEAL OF SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY 1978" Similar boxes can be find in museum collections around the world In the Jewish Museum New York In the North Carolina Museum of Art In The Derfner Judaica Museum Another similar box was featured in the Israel Museum exhibition "Forging Ahead, Wolpert and Gumbel, Israeli Silversmiths for the Modern Age" Ludwig Yehuda Wolpert was born in Hildesheim, Germany, to an Orthodox family. In 1916-1920, He began his studies in sculpture at the Frankfurt School of Art. In 1925-1928, he studied Goldsmithing at the Frankfurt School of Art. Following the presentation of the works in the 1930 exhibition "Kult und Form" ("Ritual and Form") at the Jewish Museum in Berlin, his works became well known in the German Jewish World. His works were greatly influenced by Modernist design, especially the Bauhaus Movement. Wolpert's works avoid decoration, relying on clean, geometric shapes. In 1933, Following the Nazi rise to power in Germany, he immigrated to the Mandatory Palestine with His family. There he worked for two years in the workshop of Bernhard Friedländer, where he Designed and produced silverware and Jewish ceremonial art.Together with Victor Solomon...