Friday, Sept. 13, 1963 — THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — 50
Torah Breastplates and Crowns
By EUGENE GROSSMAN
(Standard Feature Syndicate)
The Mishna records the
names of the proslyte rulers,
King Monobaz of Adiabene and
his mother, Queen Helene, who
provided golden handles for all
the vessels of the Temple used
en the Day of Atonement, and
a golden Menorah placed over
the door of the Sanctuary
(Mishna Yoma 3:10). Immernse
efforts were made to produce
beautiful Torah scrolls and out-
standing ceremonial objects to
adorn the God-given Law.
These beautiful plates are an
Ashenazic creation.
The oldest Torah breastplates
date back to the 17th century,
the great age of the Baroque,
the earliest known having been
dedicated in 1612.
The development of the
breastplates from the beginning
ber of motifs, which are also tax exemption stamp of Lem-
found on the Torah Arks and berg, 1809.
curtains. Even human figures,
Between arches and pilasters
mainly those of Moses and are the crowned double eagle,
Aaron were introduced.
lion, stag, habbi, griffon and
The Torah breastplates shown another eagle. Lower down is
in the accompanying picture a dome' with rich floral de-
was made in Breslau in the signs and animals.
The inscription tells the
17th century. It is silver-gilt
and shows Moses and Aaron name of the donor: Moses, son
framing the two tablets con- of Isaac Menkes and his wife
taining the Ten Command- Rachel, and two dates: one
ments. Beneath is the Hebrew 1765, the other probably 1774.
inscription, Rosh Hashanah. Also the names of the donor's
The Jewish Museum in New parents and his wife. There
York City has a great number are quotations from Exodus
17:11 and the Saying of the
Fathers 4:17.
The Harry G. Friedman Col-
lection of the New York Jewish
Museum has many fine crowns,
architectural forms preserving
some modelled after certain
in their ornaments the wreath,
precursor of the crown.
.
of the 17th century involved
the use of an increasing num-
Sabra Naturalized
in U.S. Held by
Israel for Army
Happy Holiday.
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Hannah . Weinstein, prop.
Torah crown, Poland, 18th
century. Courtesy Jewish Mu-
seum, New York. Frank J.
Darmstaedter, Photographer.
'of beautiful breastplates, most-
ly from the magnificent Harry
G. Friedman Collection.
The Torah crown has always
formed an important part of
the traditional East European
dressing of the scrolls.
The accompanying picture
shows a silver crown, partly
gilt, repousse and castwork with
two rows of bells and semi-
precious stones. It was made
in Poland, in the second part
of the 18th century, and has a
Happy Holiday
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TEL AVIV (JTA)—An Israel
army spokesman said here this
week that the Army's effort to
induct an Israeli-born American
citizen was "perfectly legal" be-
cause he had dual nationality.
The spokesman made the
statement in comment on a re-
port that the parents of Samuel
Cohen, 27, a Chicago Hebrew
school principal, had protested
to the State Department against
Cohen's induction. Rabbi Me-
shulam Cohen, father of the in-
ductee, said in the United States
that his son left for Israel on
June 30 to study Israeli teaching
methods and that he was sched-
uled to return to the United
States for his new job as prin-
cipal of Bnai Sholom School in
Chicago. The father said his son
became a naturalized American
citizen after being brought to
the United States in 1951.
The Army spokesman said that
Cohen became an American citi-
zen without renouncing his Is-
raeli citizenship. The spokesman
said that Cohen was told he
would have to show a certificate
exempting him from military
service and that when Cohen
applied for exemption, it was
found he had not served in the
army and that he was therefore
subject to - military service.
The spokesman said that
Cohen refused to appear for pre-
induction medical examination
and will be charged on that
count. His case is being ap-
pealed and he is free pending
trial for draft evasion but he
cannot leave Israel, the spokes-
man added.
An American Embassy spokes-
man here said Cohen would not
lose his American citizenship if
he joined the Israeli army under
protest and notifies the Em-
bassy to that effect.
Marriage at 18
•
from your friends and neighbors at
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It is considered traditional to
marry at the age of 18.
In the early verses of Gene-
sis, it has been noted that the
term "man" (Adam) appears 18
times before his union with Eve.
This has been taken by some to
indicate one's 19th birthday is
the proper time for marriage.
Commentaries have stated that
marriage at such an early age
would free a man of his nat-
ural desires, so that he can
attend to the necessary prog-
ress of his life in other matters
such as his education and the
earning of his livelihood. There
are, of course, extenuating cir-
cumstances by which this rule
could be suspended. Neverthe-
less, such has ben the opinion
of the Rabbis (Ethics of the
Fathers, Chapter 5.)
The two most engaging pow-
ers of an author are to make
new things familiar, and fa-
miliar things news.—S a mu el
Johnson.
Torah breastplates, silver-gilt, with Hebrew inscription
Roah Hashanah. Breslau, 17th century.
Jews Join in Effort to End Discrimination
Against Urban Voters in State Elections
WASHINGTON, (JTA) — represented in their state legis-
Three major civil rights groups latures.
urged an end to discriminatory
treatment of urban voters in
state elections in a joint friend-
of-the-court brief submitted to
the Supreme Court here Monday.
The organizations acted in the
first major test of what consti-
tutes a proper standard in apply-
ing the equal-protection clause
of the Fourteenth Amendment
in apportionment of state elec-
tion districts.
The three groups are the
American Jewish Congress,
American Civil Liberties Union
and National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
Happy New Year To All
Our Friends and Customers
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because minority groups tend to
concentrate in cities, "discrim-
ination against the urban voter
results in partial disfranchise-
ment of minority groups." The
civil rights groups joined in cal-
ling on the court "to state un-
equivocally the primacy of the
equal-population principle" in
state legislative apportionment.
In their brief, the three or-
ganizations
anizations declared that elec-
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tion districts for state legisla-
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are "sadly askew in terms of
equality of voter registration"
New Year Greetings
BESSENGER'S
and that "almost without excep-
tion the voters most underrep-
resented in their state legisla-
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brief noted that recent popula-
tion shifts are likely to make
suburban areas the most under-
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New Year Greetings
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Best Wishes for
A Happy, Healthy and
Joyous New Year
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