The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life The Bancroft Library University of California Berkeley Warren Hellman

Gallery January 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, Curator Julie Franklin, Registrar Ted Foley, Head Preparator In collaboration with UC Berkeley students: Nelia BarkhordarIntegrative Biology, 2013 Matthew ChunghyukMusic, 2013 Jennifer KashaniPsychology, 2013 Kayla KligerSpanish, 2013 Benjamin KramarzM.A., Folklore, 2014 Pauline LoghmanaPsychology, 2013 Benjamin RangellHistory and Near Eastern Languages (Hebrew), 2012 Wing Yan YeungMusic, 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 culture with the emerging field of sound studies and investigates 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 specific sounds, such as the shofar, 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 soundthe 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 holidayseven 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 A
Ritual noise
According to the Book of Esther, the holiday of Purim was instituted to remember the deliverance of the Jews from Hamans 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 characters 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, 1918 Wood and metal Judah L. Magnes Museum through the Benjamin Goor Acquisition Fund, Mordecai and Gila Rozin Collection, 78.78.36

2. Purim plate Germany, 18th century Painted 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-reehu u-[ma]tanot la-evyonim (send portions one to another and gifts to the poor, after Esther 9:22) around the edge; and kakhah yeaseh 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) above the figurines. 3. Flag-shaped Purim noisemaker for women or children Austria, 19th century Silver and ivory Judah 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 yaaqov, sung in Ashkenazi communities after the reading of the Book of Esther on Purim.

Case B
Sounds of the Torah
In order to be read during synagogue liturgy, the scrolls of the Hebrew Bible are carried from their storage location 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 the scrollscases, crowns, finials, and shieldsor by those 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 Yitzchaq Kurdistan or Western Iran, via Israel, 19th and 20th centuries Wood, silver, cotton, velvet and paper inserts Gift of the Diaspora Yeshiva (Jerusalem), 75.288 2. Torah pointer with hand-shaped tip and twelve bells Yemen, 19th century Silver Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase, 73.45 3. Torah pointer with quill-shaped tip, leaf-shaped finial and metal clappers, inscribed Yitzchaq Daniel Bamnolker Mumbai, India, 19th century Silver Judah 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 (Gods Torah is perfect, restoring the soul, Psalms 19:8) Yemen, 20th century Silver Judah 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 century Wood, gilt Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Matthew Ganz in memory of Samuel Ganz, 77.256

6. Torah crown dedicated to members of the Ashkenaz and Kunstler families [North Africa], 20th century Silver plating on metal, plastic Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Max Eis in honor of Pam Levinsons Bat Mitzvah, 76.283 7. Torah shield with floral motifs, columns, rampant lions, birds, and three bells Poland, 20th century Silver and brass Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase, 76.273.1 8. Torah finial with crown-shaped top, surmounting eagle, and fourteen bells San Francisco, Calif., 19th century Sterling silver Gift of Congregation Beth Israel-Judea, WJHC 2006.011.3 a 9. Torah finial with architectural and floral motifs, depictions of Jewish ritual objects, movable elements and seven bells O. Fini, silversmith Italy, 1837 Silver and brass Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase through the Benjamin Goor Acquisition Fund, 77.333 b Lower tier includes ritual objects of the Temple of Jerusalem: 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); a burning flame; a priestly vestment inscribed with the Hebrew word, meil; a decorative shield; and a seven-branched candelabrum (menorah).

10. Torah finial with floral motifs, dolphins, a crown, a surmounting lion, and seven bells United States, n.d. Parcel gilt silver 67.224 b 11. Torah finial with eagles, a crown, a lion, and nine bells, honoring Joseph Lazarus Lwenberg (17741839), Hoffaktor of the Jewish community of Hohenems, Austria Franz Anton Gutwein (1759-1805), silversmith Augsburg, Germany, 1799-1800 Gilt silver Gift of Arthur, Nathan and Leonard Norack in memory of Ida Norack, 73.11 b 12. Torah finial with hand-shaped top and six bells, dedicated by Meir Chay Levy to the memory of Leah de Levy Iran, 19th-20th centuries Silver Gift 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 clappers India, n.d. Silver Judah 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 torah (Out of Zion the Torah comes forth, Isaiah 2:3) Ludwig Wolpert (Germany, Palestine, Israel, and United States, 1900-1981), sculptor Silver Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase, 97.35 b 15. Torah finial with floral motifs, engraved Hebrew letters, and eight clappers Iran, 19th century Silver Gift of Seymour Fromer, 2008.2.2 16. Torah finial with floral motifs, crown-shaped top, and five bells Morocco, 18th century Brass Judah 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 outrather than setting to musicthe 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. Cantors 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, 18801983), 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 dIsral 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 PipeGenesis IV-21 From the portfolio, bereshit. mi-beriat ha-olam ad hamabul / 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 animals 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 preceding them (Elul). According to the Talmud and the Shulkhan arukh, a shofar should be made of a rams or wild goats 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 century Horn, wax Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase, Siegfried S. Strauss collection, 67.1.15.22 2. Carved and engraved shofar from the Pinkas synagogue Prague, 18th century Horn Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase, Siegfried S. Strauss collection, 67.1.15.24 3. Engraved shofar with lamb-shaped ring carved at horns opening Germany, 17th century Horn Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase, Siegfried S. Strauss collection, 67.1.15.21 4. Carved shofar Germany, 18th century Horn Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase, Siegfried S. Strauss collection, 67.1.15.23

5. Carved shofar Lodz, Poland, 19th century Horn Judah L. Magnes Museum Purchase, Bernard Kimmel Collection, 76.234 6. Shofar with carved ornamental holes at horns opening Morocco, 19th-20th centuries Horn Judah L. Magnes Museum Purchase, Bernard Kimmel Collection, 68.10 7. Shofar Yemen, via Israel, 19th-20th centuries Horn Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase, 82.24.3 8. Shofar Israel, 20th century Horn Gift of Mrs. Albert Elkus, 68.88 9. Shofar Yemen, via Israel, 19th-20th centuries Horn Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase through the Benjamin Goor Acquisition Fund, 80.2.13 10. Carved shofar from Knesseth Israel Synagogue Tala, Maharashtra, India, 20th century Horn Gift of Shalom Abraham in memory of his father, 76.202 11. Shofar from Congregation Sherith Israel, San Francisco Horn Gift 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, 1937 Bilingual greeting card for the Jewish New Year English and Hebrew New 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 Glckwnsche (The Shofar blowing on the New Year. Happy New Year. Heartfelt congratulations) Bilingual greeting card for the Jewish New Year German and Hebrew Frankfurt am Main, A. I. Hoffmann, postmarked in 1902 Gift of Jacqueline and David Berg, 88.26.5.3

3. le-shanah tovah tikatevu. A happy New Year Bilingual pop-up greeting card for the Jewish New Year Hebrew and English n.d. Gift of Dr. Elliott Zaleznik, 77.30.5 4. le-shanah tovah tikatevu. A happy New Year Bilingual pop-up greeting card for the Jewish New Year Hebrew and English n.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 Prim. 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 Christian Kirchner, Jdisches 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 Torah Herzliya, Israel, Palphot, postmarked in 1956 Postcard 2013.0.1

Drawer Two Cantorial Texts

1. Josef Singer, avodat shaliach tzibur... Awaudas Scheliach Zibur. Neuestes vollstndiges Handbuch zum Gebrauche fr Cantoren (The Service of the Communitys Envoy. New Complete Manual for Use by Cantors) German and Hebrew Vienna-Budapest, Joseph Schlesinger, 1906 2. Wilhelm Flamm, moreh le-shaliach tzibur. Handbuch fr Cantoren... (Manual for Cantors) German and Hebrew Prague, Freund, 1868 3. Juda[h] Roswald, chazanut le-shalosh regalim. Israelitische Gesnge der dre Festtage... Israellitische Gesnge der zwe Festtagen (r[osh] ha[shanah] - ve-y[om] k[ipur])... Manuscript collection of cantorial music for Festivals and High Holy Days German and Hebrew Neubrunn, Thuringia, Germany, 1830 Ms. B14, 2

Drawer Three Harps, II

1. Wimpel (Binder for Torah Scrolls made from a circumcision cloth) depicting a harp Bechhofen, Germany, 1742 Embroidery on linen Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase, Siegfried S. Strauss collection, 67.1.21.17 Ritual textile inscribed in Hebrew for a child named David, son of Yonah, born on Monday, 9th of Sivan, [5]502 (corresponding to June 11, 1742). The first word embroidered on linen is the childs name, David, illustrated by the adjacent depiction of a harp. 2. King David playing the harp 17th century Tempera on vellum Gift of Rabbi Irving F. Reichert, 76.306 3. Souvenir desk set Jerusalem, Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts, 20th century Olive wood Gift of Mrs. Mary Schussheim, 85.35.1 a, f The motif of a harp by willow trees and flowing water that characterizes this souvenir from Palestine is a visual representation of Psalm 137, 1-2: By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and we wept, when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst thereof we hanged our harps.

Drawer Four The Shofar in the Text

1. Painted manuscript leaf highlighting the word shofar Germany or Northern Italy, 15th century Hebrew Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase through a gift from Mr. & Mrs. Leon Mandelson, 68.106 Painted Machzor (High Holiday Prayer Book) leaf written 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 insertion (piyyut) with incipit esa deyi ve-tzedek (I will rise my thoughts in righteousness), attributed to Eleazar b. Yaaqov Kallir. The first letter of the poem (aleph) is illuminated with gold leaf, and the subsequent verses (arranged 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 Year Yemen, 1797 Hebrew LIB 78.5.2 Bound manuscript written in square Yemenite Hebrew script containing the text of the prayers for the weekdays, 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 baal toqea (person sounding the shofar) Attributed to Loeb Hertz Zunz (1775-1831) Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 19th century Ink on parchment Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase, Siegfried S. Strauss collection, 67.1.15.37