Sefer Sod Adonai im Sharvit ha-Zahav (Book of the Lord’s Mystery with the [commentary] "Golden Scepter")
Description
The titel of this mohel book (circumcision book) from 1716 is Book
of the Lord’s Mystery with the [commentary] "Golden Scepter";
based on the style and script of the scribe (Sofer), it can be
attributed to Aryeh ben Judah Leib of Trebitsch (Moravia), who was
active in Vienna. The manuscript contains several illustrations of
various scenes: among others on the title page there is a depiction
of a group of people in a synagog engaged in a discussion. It is
noteworthy that not only men, but also women are present. The
second folio shows the archangel Raphael with the young Tobias, who
is carrying home a fish to cure his father’s blindness. The
archangel Raphael as guardian angel of children is a motif that
usually occurs only in Christian art. Aryeh ben Judah Leib might
have used an unknown Catholic model in order to better illustrate
the protective function of circumcision for Jewish boys. In his
writing, Aryeh ben Judah was guided by Amsterdam letters and thus
initiated the fashion of be-otijjot Amsterdam ("with Amsterdam
letters"), producing manuscripts with Amsterdam (print) fonts.
Place
Preferred form
Vienna (Austria)
Original form
Vienna, [Aryeh ben Judah Leib]
Other form
Vienna
[Vienna, copied and decorated by Meshullam Zimmel of Polna]
Vienna, copied and decorated by Aaron Wolf Herlingen
Vienna, copied by Aaron Wolf Herlingen
Vienna, copied and illustrated by Aaron Wolf Herlingen [and Meschullam Simmel from Polná]
