Savuot a Múzeum tárgyain keresztül

A videót Bánfalvi-Orosz Eszter, készítette. ​

A videóban bemutatott műtárgyak a megjelenés sorrendjében: 
Az első savuoti istentisztelet az új Dohány utcai templomban, metszet
Tóraszekrény  
Tóraszekrény függöny 
(valamint képeslapok)

 The 50th day after Passover is the feast of Shavuot. We also remember that Judaism became a nation when they got the two stone tablet, the Ten Commandments, at Mount Sinai. According to tradition, we study all night and consume dairy foods during the holiday because the Torah is similar to milk and honey. The colored engraving depicts the scene where the Torah Scroll is shown in front of the community commemorating the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. As Shavuot is also the festival of the first harvest, following the tradition reminiscent of this, the synagogue is decorated with green leaves and plants. The Torah ark is used to store the holiest object of the Jewish religion, the Torah scrolls, and is traditionally located int he eastern part of the synagogue, facing Jerusalem. The 18th century Baroque Torah ark belonged to the furnishing of the Köpcsény (today: Kittsee, Austria) Synagogue. The village located in today’s Burgenland belonged to the Esterházy estate, and the community was built in accordance with the privilege given by the prince. In the 17th century, when Jews were not allowed to live in most of the Hungarian towns, they could build houses and a synagogue in the area received by the prince. They could operate the institutions necessary for Jewish life: ritual bath, school, kosher butchery and wine-shop. They enjoyed extensive autonomy in the internal affairs of the community with the consent of the landlord, but were free to choose rabbis and magistrates. The exterior appearance of the Torah ark evokes the style of the artistic furniture manufacturing of the era. It is possible that its maker was one of the carpenters of the princely court, as manorial craftsmen could work on the construction of the synagogue. The separation of the Torah ark and the synagogue space is provided by an ornate Torah ark curtain. The Hebrew name of this object, Parochet, is first mentioned in the description of the First Temple, where it separated the Holy of Holies from the temple area. The curtains of the Second Temple, as described by Josephus Flavius, were embroidered by virgins in the neighborhood of the temple. The Torah ark curtains are reminiscent of the Temple. At parts of the liturgy reminiscent of Jerusalem and the Temple, the community prays facing East, Jerusalem, that is, facing the curtain. The ornamentation of the earliest surviving Torah ark curtains evokes the architectural details of the biblical Temple, and each element has a symbolic meaning. The double twisted columns summon the two columns in front of the Temple, Jachin and Boaz. Grape tendrils are wrapped around the columns, and on top of them there is a bouquet of flowers in a vase. The crown resembles the crown of kings, but on objects related to the Torah it is reminiscent of the term ’Crown of the Torah’. The Parochet has a typically seven-scalloped valance. The traditional name of the Torah Ark valance is kaporeth, which refers to the gold-molded lid of the chest containing the former Ten Commandments.The 18th Century kaporeths are made of textile, with an embroidered image of a piece of furniture of the Temple in each scallops. Aaron’s priestly headdress, The table of 12 sacrificial shewbreads, a copper plate, the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, Altar of incense, the big golden Menorah, the high priest breastplate of Aaron, the ephod. The parochet originally belonged to the furnishing of the Óbuda Synagogue and was moved from the collection of the Óbuda Jewish Museum to its present location after 1945.

Video made by Eszter Bánfalvi-Orosz, translated by Eszter Cseh-Szilárd. 

​Objects in the video: 
The first Shavuoth in the Dohany street synagogue, etching 
Torah Ark  
Torah Ark Curtain, Parochet  
(and postcards from the Kohn-collection)