Sukkot in stamps and glass

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Shalom!  We are in the happy week of  Sukkot.
Here is a new Israeli stamp for the holiday.
The man in the tallit is holding the four species, including the yellow etrog.

In the big Sukkot stained glass window at the Renanim Synagogue in Hechal Shlomo you can see the etrog on top in its fancy protective container.
Below is the sukkah, in which Jews are supposed to "dwell" (or at least eat) for the whole week.
It's even prettier when you enlarge the photo. 
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Chag sameach, happy holiday!
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(For Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors meme.)

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Everybody clap and sing

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For PsalmChallenge, hosted by Robert Geiss in Athens, here is Psalm 47.
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For the leader. Of the Korahites. A psalm.

2. All peoples, clap hands, shout to God with the sound of joyous praise.

3. For the LORD is Most High, awesome, a great king above all the earth.

4. He subjects peoples beneath us, setting nations beneath our feet.

5. He chooses for us our heritage, the Splendor-of-Jacob, whom He loved. Selah.

6. God has risen high, amidst shouting; the LORD, amidst the blasts of the horn.

7. Sing, to God, sing; sing, to our king, sing;

8. for the king of all the earth is God; sing a hymn.

9. God has become king above the nations; God has sat upon His holy throne.

10. The princes of the peoples have gathered, the people of Abraham’s God; for God’s are the guardians of the earth. He has been raised very high.

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Rabbi Benjamin Segal's translation is literal, he says, "to allow readers to appreciate repeated metaphors."
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Photos:
1. A Christian group from abroad in praise at the Western Wall Plaza.
2. A busker playing the didgeridoo, Mamilla Mall, Jerusalem.
3. Sunday's hymn numbers (for the Arabic-speaking congregation), St. George's Cathedral.
4. From the Psalms series of windows at Hechal Shlomo.
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The City of God

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For Sunday's PsalmChallenge, here is Psalm 46.

46:1 For the Leader; a Psalm of the sons of Korah; upon Alamoth. A Song.

46:2 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

46:3 Therefore will we not fear, though the earth do change, and though the mountains be moved into the heart of the seas;

46:4 Though the waters thereof roar and foam, though the mountains shake at the swelling thereof. Selah

46:5 There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God, the holiest dwelling-place of the Most High.

46:6 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, at the approach of morning.

46:7 Nations were in tumult, kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

46:8 the Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our high tower. Selah

46:9 Come, behold the works of the Lord, who hath made desolations in the earth.

46:10 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariots in the fire.

46:11 'Let be [or: Desist, or: Cease striving], and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.'

46:12 the Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our high tower. Selah

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Jewish Publication Society translation, 1917.
Photo:
"Jerusalem" by Reuven Rubin, at Hechal Shlomo museum.
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Into your hands I commit my spirit

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We arrive at Psalm 31 in Robert's weekly PsalmChallenge.

It contains a verse well known to both Christians and Jews but for different reasons.

Luke 23:46 has Psalm 31:5 as Jesus' last words on the cross:
"Into thy hands I commit my spirit."

Taize sings it in Latin (hear the midi music here):
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To hear the Brothers of Taize and the people singing "In manus tuas" see YouTube.
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A synagogue window at Hechal Shlomo in Jerusalem illustrates that same verse,

"Into Thy hand I commit my spirit;
Thou hast redeemed me, O LORD, Thou God of truth."

It is something I like to say before falling asleep at night, because the first thing we Jews (from little children to old ones) are supposed to say the next morning (while still in bed) is this:

מודה אני לפניך מלך חי וקים שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה, רבה אמונתך
"I offer thanks before you, living and eternal King, for You have mercifully restored my soul within me; great is Your faithfulness."
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The entire 31st Psalm can be enjoyed at Mechon Mamre, in Hebrew and English.
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A new year starts tomorrow at sunset

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It is a window that shows a door, a door to what I think is called a sheepfold.
It is one in a series of stained glass windows in the small synagogue in Hechal Shlomo in Jerusalem.

The Rosh Hashana window (please do enlarge it) quotes from the moving and powerful piyyut (liturgical poem) Unetaneh Tokef which is sung in every synagogue both on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

כָל בָּאֵי עולָם יַעַבְרוּן לְפָנֶיךָ כִּבְנֵי מָרון. כְּבַקָּרַת רועֶה עֶדְרו. מַעֲבִיר צאנו תַּחַת שִׁבְטו .כֵּן תַּעֲבִיר וְתִסְפּר וְתִמְנֶה וְתִפְקד נֶפֶשׁ כָּל חָי. וְתַחְתּךְ קִצְבָה לְכָל בְּרִיּותֶיךָ. וְתִכְתּב אֶת גְּזַר דִּינָם:
בְּראשׁ הַשָּׁנָה יִכָּתֵבוּן וּבְיום צום כִּפּוּר יֵחָתֵמוּן כַּמָּה יַעַבְרוּן וְכַמָּה יִבָּרֵאוּן מִי יִחְיֶה וּמִי יָמוּת. מִי בְקִצּו וּמִי לא בְקִצּו מִי בַמַּיִם. וּמִי בָאֵשׁ מִי בַחֶרֶב. וּמִי בַחַיָּה מִי בָרָעָב. וּמִי בַצָּמָא מִי בָרַעַשׁ. וּמִי בַמַּגֵּפָה מִי בַחֲנִיקָה וּמִי בַסְּקִילָה מִי יָנוּחַ וּמִי יָנוּעַ מִי יִשָּׁקֵט וּמִי יִטָּרֵף מִי יִשָּׁלֵו. וּמִי יִתְיַסָּר מִי יֵעָנִי. וּמִי יֵעָשֵׁר מִי יִשָּׁפֵל. וּמִי יָרוּם וּתְשׁוּבָה וּתְפִלָּה וּצְדָקָה מַעֲבִירִין אֶת רעַ הַגְּזֵרָה
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"All mankind will pass before You like members of the flock.
Like a shepherd pasturing his flock, making sheep pass under his staff, so shall You cause to pass, count, calculate, and consider the soul of all the living;
and You shall apportion the fixed needs of all Your creatures and inscribe their verdict. "

The piyyut is traditionally attributed to a medieval Rabbi Amnon of Mainz, who spoke the words while he was being martyred. More here.
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You can read its translation in the ArtScroll Machzor.
Here is part of it:
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"On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur will be sealed
how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created;
who will live and who will die;
who will die at his predestined time and who before his time;
who by water and who by fire,
who by sword, who by beast, who by famine, who by thirst,
who by storm, who by plague,
who by strangulation, and who by stoning.
Who will rest and who will wander,
who will live in harmony and who will be harried,
who will enjoy tranquility and who will suffer,
who will be impoverished and who will be enriched,
who will be degraded and who will be exalted.
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But REPENTANCE, PRAYER and CHARITY
[tshuvah, tfilah, tzedaka]
Remove the evil of the Decree!
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Don't you love that idea that by our re-turning, praying, and doing acts of kindness we can change everything?!
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(Reposted from last year. This time it is for Monday Doorways and Our World Tuesday.)
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Read this: International Literacy Day today

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A child-high table for playing with the 22 Hebrew letters at the Jewish museum at Hechal Shlomo in Jerusalem.

Today is International Literacy Day.

The International Reading Association says that

International Literacy Day, traditionally observed annually on September 8, focuses attention on worldwide literacy needs. More than 780 million of the world’s adults (nearly two-thirds of whom are women) do not know how to read or write, and between 94 and 115 million children lack access to education.

And Wikipedia has the list of countries, starting at 100% literacy and going down to 26%(!).

Imagine . . .
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From Poland to Sweden to Israel

Like the phoenix, this molded brass bird rose from the ashes; it found new life in Jerusalem.
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The bird is atop an 18th century Chanuka menorah now safely displayed in the Jewish museum in Hechal Shlomo.
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The shadow of the first menorah blends with the shadow of a second menorah, it too adorned with a bird.
They now join other bloggers' contributions to the meme "Shadow Shot Sunday."
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These tall Hanuka lamps once graced the Tlomatzka Great Synagogue in Warsaw.
Before the synagogue was bombed and destroyed by the Germans in World War II, the congregation's rabbi managed to transfer the menorahs to an underground hiding place.
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He then asked the Polish ambassador in Sweden to sell them for the highest possible price to get money to help Jews flee Warsaw.
Countess Margaret Waner-Green of Stockholm purchased them.
After the war she donated them to the Wolfson Museum in Jerusalem in commemoration of the Tlomatzka community and in honor of the hundreds of Jews whose lives were saved thanks to these Chanuka menorot.
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A Torah's wanderings

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For the Simchat Torah holiday today, when we dance and sing with the Torah scrolls and rewind them back to Genesis 1, here is a very old scroll with a dramatic history.
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The deerskin on which it is written is unusually dark. Normally a Torah is a light tan color.

The Jewish museum at Hechal Shlomo in Jerusalem, where it is now housed, tells this story:

This Torah scroll was written in Spanish script, probably before 1492, by an excellent scribe on deerskin.
It wandered to Germany. There the Jewish congregation of Krautheim repaired it and added a piece of parchment with the missing chapter, written in Ashkenazic script.
The scroll survived a flood, the Gestapo, and bombings of the house in whose attic is was hidden during World War II.
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The middle photo on the right shows the old Jewish hospital in Karlsruhe where it was hidden.

If you enlarge this photo you can see where the two pieces were stitched together.
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This post is especially for my good friend Angelika, a teacher in Karlsruhe.
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Shepherd and sheep on Yom Kippur

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Two of the stained glass windows of Renanim synagogue in Hechal Shlomo, Jerusalem.
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In a few hours Israel enters into both the Sabbath and Yom Kippur.
Everything shuts down and it gets very quiet all over the country.
This Day of Atonement is a time of intense prayer, total fasting for 25 hours, soul-searching, and repentence for many Jews.
(For many secular Jews, it is a time to stroll down the empty highways and for the children to bike ride or skate in the car-free streets.)
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As the beautiful Yom Kippur window shows, the Gates of Repentence are open.
Above Jerusalem is the traditional image of God's Book of Life, open, with quill ready.
The long liturgy of the evening and of the following day centers on our plea that he will inscribe us in the Book of Life and seal it for another year.
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The Rosh Hashana window (please do enlarge it) quotes from the moving and powerful piyyut (liturgical poem) Unetaneh Tokef which is sung in every synagogue both on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

כָל בָּאֵי עולָם יַעַבְרוּן לְפָנֶיךָ כִּבְנֵי מָרון. כְּבַקָּרַת רועֶה עֶדְרו. מַעֲבִיר צאנו תַּחַת שִׁבְטו .כֵּן תַּעֲבִיר וְתִסְפּר וְתִמְנֶה וְתִפְקד נֶפֶשׁ כָּל חָי. וְתַחְתּךְ קִצְבָה לְכָל בְּרִיּותֶיךָ. וְתִכְתּב אֶת גְּזַר דִּינָם:
בְּראשׁ הַשָּׁנָה יִכָּתֵבוּן וּבְיום צום כִּפּוּר יֵחָתֵמוּן כַּמָּה יַעַבְרוּן וְכַמָּה יִבָּרֵאוּן מִי יִחְיֶה וּמִי יָמוּת. מִי בְקִצּו וּמִי לא בְקִצּו מִי בַמַּיִם. וּמִי בָאֵשׁ מִי בַחֶרֶב. וּמִי בַחַיָּה מִי בָרָעָב. וּמִי בַצָּמָא מִי בָרַעַשׁ. וּמִי בַמַּגֵּפָה מִי בַחֲנִיקָה וּמִי בַסְּקִילָה מִי יָנוּחַ וּמִי יָנוּעַ מִי יִשָּׁקֵט וּמִי יִטָּרֵף מִי יִשָּׁלֵו. וּמִי יִתְיַסָּר מִי יֵעָנִי. וּמִי יֵעָשֵׁר מִי יִשָּׁפֵל. וּמִי יָרוּם וּתְשׁוּבָה וּתְפִלָּה וּצְדָקָה מַעֲבִירִין אֶת רעַ הַגְּזֵרָה
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"All mankind will pass before You like members of the flock.
Like a shepherd pasturing his flock, making sheep pass under his staff, so shall You cause to pass, count, calculate, and consider the soul of all the living;
and You shall apportion the fixed needs of all Your creatures and inscribe their verdict. "

The piyyut is traditionally attributed to a medieval Rabbi Amnon of Mainz, who spoke the words while he was being martyred. More here.
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You can read its translation in the ArtScroll Machzor.
Here is part of it:
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"On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur will be sealed
how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created;
who will live and who will die;
who will die at his predestined time and who before his time;
who by water and who by fire,
who by sword, who by beast, who by famine, who by thirst,
who by storm, who by plague,
who by strangulation, and who by stoning.
Who will rest and who will wander,
who will live in harmony and who will be harried,
who will enjoy tranquility and who will suffer,
who will be impoverished and who will be enriched,
who will be degraded and who will be exalted.
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But REPENTANCE, PRAYER and CHARITY
[tshuvah, tfilah, tzedaka]
Remove the evil of the Decree!
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Don't you love that idea that by our re-turning, praying, and doing acts of kindness we can change everything?!
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Before shutting down the computer for its yearly day of rest, I leave you with the traditional blessings--Shabbat shalom (Sabbath peace), tsom kal (easy over the fast), and Gmar chatima tova (May you be have a good inscription)!
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P.S. My little grandson made his own ram's horn for these Days of Awe!
Here is a short and sweet video of Dean blowing the shofar.
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Imagining the binding of Isaac

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Today is the second day of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year.
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The Torah portion that is read on this day is Genesis 22, God's testing of Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son on Mount Moriah.
In Hebrew we call it the Akedah, the binding of Isaac.
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Below is a wide variation of artistic portrayals of the story, on display at the Jewish museum in Jerusalem's Hechal Shlomo.
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"Abraham's sacrifice," designed by W. Breathe, England, 1870, porcelain, manufactured by Wedgewood.
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On the other extreme is this simple brass tub drilled with holes, made in Israel in the 20th century.

The inscription is "Lay not thy hand upon the lad," the welcome words of God's messenger-angel.

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This is an illustration on a 1743 map of Eretz-Israel, painted in France.

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A painting by Moshe Castel, 1925.

We can see the ram, tangled in the branches by its horns, which will be offered instead of Isaac.

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"The way to the mountain," wool thread on cushion cover, embroidered in Ethiopia in the 1980s.

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The servant boys stay behind with the donkey, Isaac carries the wood for the fire, Abraham carries the knife. Vultures circling above?

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You have to admit, religion has a lot of drama at its core.

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More about Rosh Hashana in previous posts:

A stone sculpture of the Akeda

Fish heads

New calendar for a new year

Tashlich bread to the fish

Shofar, tashlich

The world's birthday

Pomegranate symbol

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My flying carpet experience

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I was walking down King George Street in central Jerusalem yesterday, minding my own business (well . . . as much as any photo-blogger can).
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While passing, I glanced into the open door of the tall monumental Hechal Shlomo building, place of a Jewish museum and of many Jewish organization offices.

I did a double-take; couldn't believe my eyes; rushed inside!

There were Persian carpets everywhere, hundreds of them!

Suspended from the railings,

strewn on the stairs,

slung on benches,

and sometimes even stacked ten-high on the floor!

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I climbed three storeys, taking pictures of gorgeous handmade and Persian carpets on each floor.

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No one was around. No one to ask what this was.

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Finally I found a flyer announcing that the 324 carpets would go on auction July 29.

Estimated values went from a few hundred to over 10,000 shekels.

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You can click on the groups of numbers at the auctioneer's website and see each individual numbered carpet and a brief description of it. (Ironically, for blogger Sarah, who has showed us so many Persian carpets in their and her native country, this website may be the only way to see them because all our blog photos are being filtered there.)

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Everything is from the collection of Eli Sasson Carpets, located in Herzlia.

Eli Sassoon was born in Isfahan. He immigrated to Israel in 1963 and carried on the carpet business has family had begun in Iran.

In his beautiful brochure he describes a carpet as "the clothing worn by a place."

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I was intriqued by the many motifs and ancient symbols used in these carpets.

You can see them at his website.

This cute Tabriz round carpet, only one meter across, struck my fancy.

Maybe because it was the only round one I stepped across.

Not that I could ever buy a Persian carpet . . .

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But the surprise discovery of this treasure of artistic tradition was enough to make me feel like I was being transported--on a flying carpet!

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Luckily this was my world this week for That's My World Tuesday.

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