MicheleLovesArt's photostream

This reduced-resolution photo has been released under the Creative Commons cc-by-sa 2.0 (generic) licence. Please credit this photo Michele Ahin and specify the licence that this photo is licenced under.

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The Ark in the Great Synagogue in the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam

A characteristic feature of the Great Synagogue is the imposing marble Ark presented to the community in 1671 by Abraham ben Isaac Auerbach of Coesfeld.

At the top of the Ark, surmounted by the Crown of Torah, are various Hebrew texts. The inscriptions at the base of the columns flanking the doors of the Ark, state the benefactor’s name and date in Hebrew: (5)431 (=1671), and the dates of two restorations in 1855 and 1913.

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This reduced-resolution photo has been released under the Creative Commons cc-by-sa 2.0 (generic) licence. Please credit this photo Michele Ahin and specify the licence that this photo is licenced under.

If you would like to use this photo under a different licence, or at a higher resolution please contact me for additional information.
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Mezzuza by Ida Kleiterp

This mezzuza was donated by sculptor Ida Kleiterp (1948) to the Children's Museum. The three Hebrew letters form the word 'Sjadai' (or Shaddai), one of the Judaic names of God. While creating Ida realized that the mezzuza is just like a tool - to keep you on the right path. If you touch the mezzuza with your hand, you feel both the rough and the smooth surface of the stone. It symbolizes the hard and soft side of life.

The mezzuza is a small container mounted to the doorpost at the entrance to most rooms in which Jews dwell. You will find it on the upper third of the right hand doorpost as you enter. It is mounted at an angle, with the top toward the inside. The word mezzuzah literally means "doorpost", but it is most commonly used to refer to the container.

Many Jews follow the custom of kissing the mezzuza when they enter or leave. This is done by touching your fingertips first to the mezzuza and then to your lips.

This reduced-resolution photo has been released under the Creative Commons cc-by-sa 2.0 (generic) licence. Please credit this photo Michele Ahin and specify the licence that this photo is licenced under.

If you would like to use this photo under a different licence, or at a higher resolution please contact me for additional information.
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Painting by Jan Voerman

Title: [De Rouwdagen] De treurdagen
Artist: Voerman, Jan (1857-01-25=1941-03-25)
Material: fabric & wood & oil
Date: 1884 (approx)

An oil painting with from left to right:
Interior with four seated men dressed in tallit, a figure viewed from the back, a reader in tallit standing and facing to the left, two men, two women and a child, the scene around a table in front of a window, open door on the far right.

This reduced-resolution photo has been released under the Creative Commons cc-by-sa 2.0 (generic) licence. Please credit this photo Michele Ahin and specify the licence that this photo is licenced under.

If you would like to use this photo under a different licence, or at a higher resolution please contact me for additional information.
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Mikvah in the Great Synagogue in the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam

Mikvah (or mikveh) (Hebrew: מִקְוָה, Modern Miqva Tiberian Miqwāh; plural: mikva'ot or mikves) is a ritual bath designed for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism. The word "mikvah", as used in the Hebrew Bible, literally means a "collection" - generally, a collection of water.

Several biblical regulations specify that full immersion in water is required to regain ritual purity after ritually impure incidents have occurred. Most forms of impurity can be nullified through immersion in any natural collection of water. Some, such as a Zav, however require "living water," such as springs or groundwater wells. Living water has the further advantage of being able to purify even while flowing as opposed to rainwater which must be stationary in order to purify. The mikvah is designed to simplify this requirement, by providing a bathing facility that remains in ritual contact with a natural source of water.

Its main uses nowadays are:

* by Jewish women to achieve ritual purity after menstruation or childbirth
* by Jewish men to achieve ritual purity
* as part of a traditional procedure for conversion to Judaism
* for utensils used for food.

This reduced-resolution photo has been released under the Creative Commons cc-by-sa 2.0 (generic) licence. Please credit this photo Michele Ahin and specify the licence that this photo is licenced under.

If you would like to use this photo under a different licence, or at a higher resolution please contact me for additional information.
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Tree of Life by Eli Content

Right frame of a set of three leaded glass windows by the artist Eli Content. A framework of a tree shape cut out of black glass and after that white dots were added.