A Torah binder keeps the Torah closed when it is not in use. Different traditions of its form and decoration have arisen in various communities. For example, in Germanic lands the swaddling cloth for the circumcision ceremony of a male child was later decorated with words and images to wish him well. In Italy women embroidered floral patterns and sometimes inscriptions on a length of cloth expressing hopes and thanks for important events. 

Lamps play an important role in Jewish ritual: they are lit to usher in the Sabbath and holidays and to memorialize the deceased. An eternal light (ner tamid) hangs above the Torah ark in every synagogue, symbolizing God’s eternal presence.

During the Middle Ages, Jews living in Ashkenaz (Germanic lands) used star-shaped hanging lamps, identical to secular ones, for kindling the Sabbath lights. This type of lamp came to be known as a Judenstern (Jewish star). Long after these hanging lamps were no longer used for general domestic purposes, Ashkenazi Jews continued to light them on the Sabbath and during festivals. For one year after a person’s death, it was customary for Jews of North Africa to light a memorial lamp that was inscribed with the deceased’s name on the Sabbath and for festivals at home. The lamp was then dedicated to the synagogue.

Lamps play an important role in Jewish ritual: they are lit to usher in the Sabbath and holidays and to memorialize the deceased. An eternal light (ner tamid) hangs above the Torah ark in every synagogue, symbolizing God’s eternal presence.

During the Middle Ages, Jews living in Ashkenaz (Germanic lands) used star-shaped hanging lamps, identical to secular ones, for kindling the Sabbath lights. This type of lamp came to be known as a Judenstern (Jewish star). Long after these hanging lamps were no longer used for general domestic purposes, Ashkenazi Jews continued to light them on the Sabbath and during festivals. For one year after a person’s death, it was customary for Jews of North Africa to light a memorial lamp that was inscribed with the deceased’s name on the Sabbath and for festivals at home. The lamp was then dedicated to the synagogue.

Lamps play an important role in Jewish ritual: they are lit to usher in the Sabbath and holidays and to memorialize the deceased. An eternal light (ner tamid) hangs above the Torah ark in every synagogue, symbolizing God’s eternal presence.

During the Middle Ages, Jews living in Ashkenaz (Germanic lands) used star-shaped hanging lamps, identical to secular ones, for kindling the Sabbath lights. This type of lamp came to be known as a Judenstern (Jewish star). Long after these hanging lamps were no longer used for general domestic purposes, Ashkenazi Jews continued to light them on the Sabbath and during festivals. For one year after a person’s death, it was customary for Jews of North Africa to light a memorial lamp that was inscribed with the deceased’s name on the Sabbath and for festivals at home. The lamp was then dedicated to the synagogue.

Lamps play an important role in Jewish ritual: they are lit to usher in the Sabbath and holidays and to memorialize the deceased. An eternal light (ner tamid) hangs above the Torah ark in every synagogue, symbolizing God’s eternal presence.

During the Middle Ages, Jews living in Ashkenaz (Germanic lands) used star-shaped hanging lamps, identical to secular ones, for kindling the Sabbath lights. This type of lamp came to be known as a Judenstern (Jewish star). Long after these hanging lamps were no longer used for general domestic purposes, Ashkenazi Jews continued to light them on the Sabbath and during festivals. For one year after a person’s death, it was customary for Jews of North Africa to light a memorial lamp that was inscribed with the deceased’s name on the Sabbath and for festivals at home. The lamp was then dedicated to the synagogue.

Miniature portraits were important ways of remembering loved ones and were produced in a variety of media. Profile silhouettes made of cut-out paper were all the rage from colonial times until the advent of photography in the mid-nineteenth century. Other portraits here are painted on ivory, a technique that became popular in the early eighteenth century. These precious pieces were often worn like jewelry.

Printed picture postcards are a fairly new phenomenon, first appearing in Europe around 1870. Jewish New Year greetings of the early twentieth century often used commercial cards marketed for other purposes. 

Jewish amulets, known since antiquity, were thought to offer protection from evil forces and catastrophes, as well as from the travails of childbirth and disease. The written word—the names of God and of angels and incantations against demons—has the greatest power, but materials, colors, and representations are also believed to ward off danger.

Since antiquity jewelry has played a social role beyond mere adornment. Gold and gems convey economic status, whether in the ancient Mideast or today.