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Zürich, Braginsky Collection, K114 : Ketubbah (כתובה)
No full textThis promise of marriage between Wilhelm Goldstein and Paula See in Shanghai was confirmed in Chinese before two witnesses, Max Neumann and Gustav Lehmann, as well as Bernhard Cohn, the lawyer for the Jewish community “Communal Association of Central European Jews. Shanghai”. In contrast to the Braginsky collection’s other marriage contracts, this is not a Jewish religious document, but an official certificate recording the consent to marry of a couple fleeing persecution in the German-speaking countries. In Shanghai, about 18,000 Jews survived the holocaust.Online Since: 2019-12-1
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, E-4.1 : Albert Einstein, Ether and Relativity Theory, autograph
No full textAt the beginning of his visiting professorship at the Reichs-Universität of Leiden, on May 5, 1920, Albert Einstein gave this lecture with the title “Ether and Relativity Theory.” This copy, in his own handwriting, contains numerous corrections and deletions. The lecture was published in the same year. Einstein later often returned to the concepts set forth in this lecture.Online Since: 2015-12-1
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, S41 : Megillah Ester (מגילת אסתר) / Esther scroll
No full textCreated at the beginning of the 20th century, this Esther scroll (on six sheets with 35 columns of text) could be seen as an attempt to create a national Jewish style by incorporating orientalist and Art Nouveau elements. The origin could therefore be Jerusalem, although other centers in the Ottoman Empire could also be considered. The case is artfully carved from ivory, the megillah was painted in vivid colors and contains floral motifs, as often found in oriental manuscripts.Online Since: 2020-10-0
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, S93 : Megillah Esther (מגילת אסתר) / Esther scroll
No full textThis megillah (on three sheets with 10 columns of text) is from Eastern Europe and was probably created at the beginning of the 20th century. The elaborate case was made by Ezekiel Joshua Maisels in 1913 in Dolyna in Galicia (today Western Ukraine). It is covered with carved images, ornaments and Hebrew inscriptions, and contains scenes from the Purim story at the bottom and from the hanging of Haman in the upper part. In the central part, the crown (keter malchut), symbol of royal rule, is held by two winged lions. The double-headed eagle refers to the Habsburg Empire.Online Since: 2020-12-1
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 24 : Fragments from the binding of a Syrian manuscript from Harput
No full textThis volume of 25 leaves was produced between 1910-1916 to preserve eight fragments from five Greek parchment manuscripts. The fragments, almost all palimpsests, had been found around 1896 in the binding of an unidentified Syrian gospel from Harput (Anatolia). A: Fragm. 1-2 (4th century ex / 7th century in): parts of ch. 15 of Didascalia apostolorum; B: Fragm. 3-4 (6th century): parts of ch. 3-4 of First Epistle of Paul to Timothy; C: Fragm. 5, in extremely poor state of preservation: contents and dating unknown; D: Fragm. 6 (7th century): parts of the prologue and the beginning of the scholia on book 24 of the Iliad; E: Fragm. 7-8 (7th century): parts of Psalms 108, 114 and 115. The content of the writing on the lower parts of the palimpsests is neither known nor dated.Online Since: 2020-12-1
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, K55 : Ketubah (כתובה), Shechem (Nablus), Jumada al-awwal 1323 according to the Islamic calendar, (July/August 1905)
No full textThis marriage contract documents the agreements at the betrothal of two Samaritans, Temima, daughter of Isaac, son of ha-Levi Amram, and Abraham, son of Joseph Denufta (ha-Dinfi). Although Samaritans believe only in the Pentateuchand recognize only Moses as prophet, and although the Torah does not mandate that the rights of the wife be protected by a ketubah,the Samaritans adopted thisrabbinic custombased on Exodus 21:9 and 22:6, which mention a kind of dowry. The language of this document is Samaritan Hebrew, written in Samaritan script, reminiscent of ancient Hebrewscript.Reflecting a strict interpretation of the Second Commandment, the decoration of the ketubah is limited to floral and geometric designs in bright colors.Online Since: 2018-10-0
Porrentruy, Bibliothèque cantonale jurassienne, N.C.11 : Armorial of Porrentruy
No full textRetired for health reasons in 1905, Abbé Daucourt (1849-1926), living in Delémont, began that same year an Armorial de Porrentruy. Completed in 1907, the volume was intended for the library of the town, of which he was a bourgeois. Painted throughout, this 118-plate volume is a compilation of coats of arms, primarily of the nobility, connected with local history. It also includes reproductions of seals, flags, and signatures. Scientifically unreliable, this armorial attests above all to the renewed interest for heraldry that marked the twentieth century, in the specific context of the affirmation of the Jura identity, in which Abbé Daucourt participated.Online Since: 2023-09-0
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, K109 : Ketubbah (כתובה), Cochin, 27 Adar 5660 (26 February 1900)
No full textThis contract celebrates the marriage of Moses, son of Judah, and Esther, daughter of Isaac, that took place in 1900 in Cochin, South India. According to the Indian caste system, the Jews of Cochin, very few of whom live there today, are divided into three groups: the Malabari (or black Jews) - whose namesake is the Indian coast of Malabar -, merchants who boast of their descent from King Solomon; the Paradesi (or white Jews) who arrived in Kerala during the colonial period; and the Meshuhrarim, originally slaves of Jewish merchants, who converted and were freed. The Jewish community of Cochin distinguished itself in numerous artistic fields, especially in the production of ketubbot. Based on its division into two sections, the present contract is typical of Indian production: the upper part of the document is taken up by lengthy blessings and biblical verses, written in square letters, while the lower part contains the actual wedding contract, written in a semi-cursive script. The decoration, consisting of elegant leafy branches in gold (and in yellow for some leaves), simultaneously frames and highlights the texts with its lustrous and shimmering effects.Online Since: 2020-06-1
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, S86 : Megillah Esther (מגילת אסתר) / Esther scroll
No full textBy its style, the case of this megillah (h: 47cm) can be attributed to religious Jewish art of Eastern Europe. The silver is punched, chased, cast and partially gilded. The double-headed eagle is the heraldic animal of the Habsburgs and of the Russian Tsar. On the shield is a quote from Esther 8:16: “But unto the Jews there came a light and joy and gladness and glory”, and the flags flanking the shield are inscribed: “And the royal crown shall be set upon his head” (Esther 6:8). Numerous of flower, fruit and leaf ornaments, interspersed with representations of animals, cover the case. The scroll can be pulled out by a clasp in the shape of a small lion.Online Since: 2020-12-1
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, S58 : <i>Megillat</i> Esther (מגילת אסתר) / Esther Scroll
No full textThis Esther scroll, which combines Indian and Western traditions in a unique way, contains twenty elaborately illustrated panels flanking the text columns. The reader is shown surrounded by men wearing fezes and children holding drums used as noisemakers to drawn out the name of Haman. Additionally, a group of five women is portrayed in a separate space above labeled ezrat nashim (woman’s section). The figures in the scroll are depicted in a mixture of contemporary, Western and non-Western clothing, and often are seated in interiors that portray a similar blend of furnishings. Some of the women, including Esther at times, are shown with a Hindu bindi sign on their foreheads. This scroll comes from the collection of the eminent Sassoon family of Baghdadi Jewish descent. It was most likely created for their personal use. The merging of Jewish scribal traditions and Indian artistic design reflects the Sassoon family’s deep involvement in the cultural life of India.Online Since: 2016-12-2