"Baruch HaBa BeShem Hashem" – colorful decorated handwritten certificate, with over twenty signatures of rabbis and leaders of Safed, with stamps of rabbis and institutions of the Ashkenazic community in the city. Safed, 23rd Sivan, [1910].

Mixed technique (black and gold ink, pastel, watercolor and colored pencils) on paper. Without signature of artist.

Large certificate in colorful calligraphy, decorated with a fine frame comprised of verses and gilt decorations, illustrations of lions holding a Torah crown and medallions of palm and cedar trees, characteristic of the artwork of R. Yosef Tzvi Geiger – a founding father of art in Safed, a scribe of the kollels and an official in Torah and charitable institutions of the city.

The certificate was written in honor of the visit to Safed of the Chief Rabbi of the Ottoman Empire, R. Chaim Nachum, on behalf of the Ashkenazic community of Ottomans subjects. Includes 21 signatures of rabbis and officials, 11 stamps of rabbis and institutions of the Ashkenazic community of Safed. The signatories include R. Tzvi Rosenstein, R. Yaakov Bahar, R. David Segal, R. Nechemiah Segal, R. Yeshayah HaLevi Horowitz [1883-1978, a Chabad rabbi and posek, Rabbi of the Chabad community of his native Safed, and later member of the Beit Din of his teacher the Ridvaz; emigrated after World War I, serving as rabbi in communities in the United States and Canada, until returning to Eretz Israel later in life; father of R Shmuel Horowitz, a Breslov Chassid of Jerusalem and Meron]; R. Asher Yechezkel Horowitz; and many others.

57X81 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, creases and wear. Marginal tears, slightly affecting text, and tape repairs.

Yosef Tzvi Geiger (1870-1944) was a member of Torah and charitable institutions of his native Safed, a secretary, official and scribe of the kollels, and an active communal worker. He was known in his city as a skilled scribe and artist, producing works of all kinds.

Elaborate certificate of appreciation, handwritten and decorated, presented by the board of the Jewish community of Arad to Vilmos Bing, president of the community, upon his retirement. Arad (Transylvania, today Romania), [1897]. Hungarian, with some Hebrew.

Certificate presented on the retirement of Vilmos Bing from his position as president of the Neolog Jewish community of Arad, after nine years of service (1888-1897). The certificate details his contribution to the community, the development of its religious, cultural, and social institutions, and the prosperity, growth, and stability achieved under his leadership. The final two pages bear the signatures of over twenty board members.

Written on six large, thick paper leaves; calligraphic script, with large decorated initials and ornamental vegetal and geometric borders. The upper part of the title page border features a monogram with the initials VB (Vilmos Bing).

Luxurious leather binding adorned with gilt metal ornaments and colorful enamel reliefs, executed with meticulous craftsmanship. The front cover features an additional VB monogram; the back cover bears a gilt plaque with the years 1888-1897 in blue enamel – the years of Bing’s presidency.

[6] leaves. 44X35 cm. Good condition. Stains and minor wear. Tissue guards lined with bluish fabric, slightly torn at edges. Binding approx. 45.5X36 cm. Good condition. Minor marginal stains and wear.

Portrait of R. Shlomo Zalman [Lipschitz], author of Chemdat Shlomo. Lithograph by an unknown artist. [Warsaw?, 1839].

R. Lipschitz is depicted dressed in festive clothing, sitting in an elaborately decorated sukkah, with various sukkah posters featured within a large fish-shaped frame, representing the Leviathan. The rabbi's attendant is seen standing beside him, holding the Four Species. Beneath the portrait, there is a poem in honor of the rabbi (forming the acrostic: "Shlomo Zalman"), followed by the Hebrew caption "Light of the Diaspora, R. Shlomo Zalman, Rabbi of Warsaw, passed away on Tuesday, 11th Nisan 1839 at the age of 75". Polish caption: "Salomon Lipszyc. Rabin z miasta Warszawy".

R. Shlomo Zalman Lipschitz (1765-1839), born in Posen (Poznań). First rabbi of Warsaw, author of Responsa Chemdat Shlomo on the four parts of Shulchan Aruch.

Approx. 25X36.5 cm. Fair condition. Stains. Folding marks and creases. Tears professionally restored. Trimmed margins. Mounted on cardboard and matted.

Portraits of similar design are documented in Magdalena Czubińska's article on rabbinic portraits in the National Museum of Cracow, but this portrait is not featured there.

See:

• In Eternal Memory Shall He Remain Righteous. Formed From the Dust of The Ground, More Splendid Than a Jewel. Lithographic Portraits of Rabbis in the Collection of the National Museum in Kraków; Printed in: Scripta Judaica Cracoviensia, Kraków, Vol. 11, (2013): 107-133.

• Great Jewish Treasures, by Moshe Bamberger. New York, 2015, p. 190-191.

Provenance: Kedem, Auction 93, Part 1, 31 July 2023, Lot 36.

Sephardic kabbalist of Jerusalem, 1928.

Watercolor on paper, signed and dated.

22X30.5 cm. Frame: 36.5X46.5 cm. Good condition. Minor defects. Matted with tape.

"Zemanei HaTefillot BeShabbat VeYom Tov" – synagogue prayer schedule plaque. [Presumably Hungary or Transylvania, early 20th century].

Ink and paint on paper; wood and glass; brass.

Large plaque designed for mounting on a synagogue wall, reminiscent in form of a clock case. The schedule itself is handwritten and painted on a large paper sheet, set within a massive wooden frame shaped like a wooden cabinet, with a glass door (on a hinge) and decorative lock mechanism, with a key.

Ten clock-like circles appear on the plaque, surrounded by a pair of columns surmounted by an arch, each with a rotatable brass hand. Names of the prayers appear in Hebrew and Hungarian, and include: for Shabbat and festivals – Kabbalat Shabbat, Shacharit, Musaf, Minchah, Ma’ariv; for weekdays – Shacharit, Minchah, Selichot, Ma’ariv, Yom Kippur Katan.

68.5X43.5X6.5 cm. Overall good condition. Stains, minor wear and scuffing to paper panel. Minor closed and open tears, slightly affecting text and illustrations. Minor wear, blemishes and small holes to wooden frame. Several new screws in the lid hinge.