Sub-project: Braginsky collection on e-codices
Start: December 2014
Status: In progress
Financed by: René and Susanne Braginsky Foundation
Description: The collection of Hebrew manuscripts of the Zurich collector René Braginsky is generally considered to be one of the largest private collections of Hebrew manuscripts in the world. It also contains a fair number of fine early printed books. The collection does not only contain codices from before and after the invention of printing, but also several hundred illuminated marriage contracts and Esther scrolls. In 2009, some hundred highlights from the collection were curated into a traveling exhibition, which was shown in Amsterdam, New York, Jerusalem, Zurich, and Berlin. Since 2014 e-codices is making documents of the collection online available. The project is generously supported by the René and Susanne Braginsky Foundation.
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In the 17th century, the Jewish community of Casale Monferrato had between 500 and 600 members. The widow Giuditta Leonora, daughter of Abraham Segre, and Moses, son of the deceased Isaak Katzighin, the bridal couple named in this marriage contract, both belonged to the wealthiest families of the community. The contract is surrounded by an ornamental frame. The inner oval frame, which contains six gilded rosettes, is decorated with flowers. Its corner segments each contain a large medallion depicting the four Aristotelian elements (air, water, fire and earth) and smaller medallions depicting, in a counterclockwise direction, the twelve Signs of the Zodiac. The outer frame contains gilt knot motifs as a symbol of the eternal “love knot”; the cartouches in the four corners depict allegories of the four seasons. In addition there are representations of the five senses. The tenth cartouche, at the top, intended for family crests, was never filled in.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
The Karaite ketubah, unlike the traditional Rabbinite contract, is written entirely in Hebrew and invariably comprises of two parts: shetar nissu’in and shetar ketubah. The Karaite wedding recorded in this ketubah was celebrated in the important community of Qirq-Yer in the Crimean Peninsula (West Ukraine). The two sections of the text are set inside frames painted with gold and surrounded by flowers. In the tradition of many Sephardic, Italian, and Eastern ketubot, initial words are decorated and appropriate biblical passages are included in the inner frame. The dowry list in this ketubah is longer than the marriage deed text in the first section. In accordance with the Karaite custom, many respected witnesses (here 12) were invited to sign the contract.
Online Since: 12/20/2016
This marriage contract documents the agreements at the betrothal of two Samaritans, Temima, daughter of Isaac, son of ha-Levi Amram, and Abraham, son of Joseph Denufta (ha-Dinfi). Although Samaritans believe only in the Pentateuchand recognize only Moses as prophet, and although the Torah does not mandate that the rights of the wife be protected by a ketubah,the Samaritans adopted thisrabbinic custombased on Exodus 21:9 and 22:6, which mention a kind of dowry. The language of this document is Samaritan Hebrew, written in Samaritan script, reminiscent of ancient Hebrewscript.Reflecting a strict interpretation of the Second Commandment, the decoration of the ketubah is limited to floral and geometric designs in bright colors.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
The Jewish community on the ‘British Rock of Gibraltar’ reached its height in the 19th century. At the time this marriage contract (ketubbah) was produced, most of Gibraltar’s retail trade was conducted by the local Sephardic community. By the second half of the 19th century, Gibraltar developed its own characteristic type of marriage contract decoration, with large pieces of parchment ornamented in bright colors. The present ketubbah, of which an identical but later copy is preserved at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (accession n. B72.1066 179/244H, see Sh. Sabar, Mazal Tov: Illuminated Jewish Marriage Contracts from the Israel Museum Collection, Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 1993), is framed on either side by garlands of flowers, a luxurious red bow at the bottom and surmounted by a crown, which is reminiscent of the Torah crown, however modeled here on the British royal crown. Three other typical motifs of these Gibraltar ketubbot are the initial word of the traditional Jewish wedding day in Gibraltar, Wednesday (ברביעי), enlarged in gold lettering; the sum of the dowry and increment is a factor of eighteen, a number that is also the propitious word ‘Ḥai’ (חי) – ‘life’, written here in monumental letters sticking out of the small cursive script and lastly, the ornamental monogram in Latin letters at bottom center, which is comprised here of E C B, referring to the bridal couple’s first (Elido and Jimol) and last initials (Ben Atar/ Benatar). Elido (אלידו), son of Isaiah, son of the late Ḥaim, called Ben Atar (בן עתר) is marrying the bride Jimol (ג'ימול), daughter of Joseph, son of the late David, called Qazes (קאזיס), whose dowry is 600 Pesos Fuertes (פיזוס פואירטיס) worth of clothing, jewelry and bed linen and incremented by 600 Pesos Fuertes as a gift, to which is added a piece of land measuring 400 cubits and an additional 600 Pesos Fuertes; the total obligation is 1800 Pesos Fuertes.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
The bridal couple mentioned in this marriage contract, Dona Sarah, daughter of Jacob Guttieres Pegna (Peña) and David, son of the late Benjamin Racah (or Raccah), both are members of wealthy families of the Sephardic community of Livorno. As is customary, the ketubah lists the dowry and increment: It consists of a house on the Piazza delle Erbe with a value of 907 piesas, 6 solidos and 10 dinaros da ocho reali di Spagna, plus 150 piesas in cash and an increment valued at half of the dowry. The unusually large ketubah is decorated with interlace design in the style of “love knots”, floral scrolls, a pair of birds and two winged putti supporting a blank cartouche intended for the family emblem.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
This marriage contract between Abraham [Abramo], son of the late Jonathan Judah Finzi, and his bride Ricca, daughter of Gedaliah Senigaglia (Senigallia) names a dowry of 1,800 pezze da ocho reali – 1,200 of which in cash, 300 in gold jewelry, precious stones and pearls, and 300 in clothing and bed linen, and an increment of 360 pezze. The text is in the lower section of the ketubah, inside a monumental double arch. The upper section depicts azure heavens with tiny gold stars. Seated on clouds is the allegory of Fama, who announces the “good name” of the groom with a fanfare.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
As in other ketubot (cf. K69 and K96), here, too, an older frame was reused, one that had been created for a marriage contract 70-80 years earlier. 13 figurative scenes are arranged within an architectural arch; the theme is the biblical story of the wedding of Isaac and Rebecca. The original ketubah may have been created for a bridal couple with these names. The series of scenes begins in the upper right with the Sacrifice of Isaac and continues clockwise with more scenes. At the top Cupid links the two family emblems with a gold ribbon. A „crown of the good name“ tops the scene.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
This ketubah was created in Essaouira by the artist David Nissim Elkaïm (see his initials in Latin letters at the lower left) documents the marriage between Solomon, son of Joshua, son of R. Abraham Makhluf ha-Levi Ben-Susan, and Freha, daughter of Makhluf, son of Masoud, son of Naphtali, grandson of Judah Afriat, both of whom were members of Sephardic families. Numerous characteristics refer to this heritage, such as the writing material (parchment), the status of women, the invocation of God to take revenge for the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the European style of the decoration of the frame and the Latin monogram of the bride’s name.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
David, son of Daniel Coelho Enriques (or Henriques) and Dona Rachel, daughter of Abraham Enriques Da Costa, were members of a families of religious refugees from Spain and Portugal in the town of Bayonne in Southern France near the Atlantic coast. Like other Sephardic ketubot, their marriage contract does not contain depictions of human figures, which distinguishes them from ones from Italy or Amsterdam. The sharp contrast between dark ink and white parchment, the dots and the hatching give the impression of a copper engraving. The verses, written in elegant, square Sephardic script, contain praises of the bride and groom.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
In this 1722 marriage contract between Yishai (Jesse) Hay, son of R. Samuel Pesach, and Berakha Tova, daughter of R. Isaiah Modena, the artist persuasively links decorative elements of Italian art with Jewish symbols and motifs. The decoration contains countless biblical quotations in micrographic script with reference to wedding and marriage ideals.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
Like the 1753 ketubah from Padua (K76), this contract makes use of an older frame. The family emblems therefore have no relation to the bridal couple, Nathan Solomon, son of Jacob Samuel le-Veit Montel, and Bella Rosa, daughter of Moses le-Veit Barukh (De Benedetti). It is even possible that the original ketubah is not from Alessandria, but from further away, possibly Lugo or Ancona. The inner decorative frame contains a ribbon of cutout designs glued onto green fabric. The outer frame is painted; it is decorated with fanciful flowering twigs, medallions and vignettes. The side and bottom borders contain the Signs of the Zodiac.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
The lavish decoration of this printed and hand-painted ketubah attests to the high esteem in which this art form was held by the wealthy Sephardim living in the Venice ghetto. The text in this document is divided in two sections, the ketubah proper at the right and the conditions at the left, set within a double arch. The side columns feature additional wedding scenes inspired by Jewish texts. The association between the ideals of marriage from the past with Jewish life in contemporary Italy is further illustrated in the six vignettes that surround the central area containing the emblem of the bridegroom’s family, De Almeda. The frame enclosing the text is dominated by painted Signs of the Zodiac interspersed with plaques containing a wedding poem by the Italian poet and kabbalist, Rabbi Mordecai Dato (1525?-1593?). At the four corners are elaborate geometric designs inscribed with miniscule square writing, which, together with the inscriptions along the frame, present the entire book of the Song of Songs. This border was so admired that it was later imitated throughout the Veneto.
Online Since: 12/20/2016
The marriage of Joshua, son of Isaac Hayyim Recanati, and Dona Esther Sarah, daughter of Raphael Recanati, established a union within this widely ramified, wealthy and influential Sephardic family. Written on a document that is painted with illusionistic effect, the actual text of the ketubbah is in the right column and the conditions are in the left column. These are surrounded by rococo architecture in central perspective, with the family emblem at the top flanked by two cupids. The name of the groom is honored with a medallion that depicts Joshua commanding the sun to stand still (Joshua 10:12–13). Two female figures hold the ends of a gold ribbon with the inscription “Be fruitful and multiply!”
Online Since: 10/10/2019
This ketubbah for the bridal couple Joseph Baruch, son of R. Schabettai Moses Salman and Rachel, daughter of R. Jom Tov Sanguinetti, is evidence of the Piedmontese communities' high achievements in the field of Jewish art. The designs are executed in green and gold. In the central part, a massive triumphal arch supported by twin columns frames the text of the contract. Two trumpet-blowing putti on mobile supports, the twelve signs of the zodiac, and the depictions of birds in the ornamental field at the top were cut from copper engravings, glued onto the ketubbah and then enhanced with a bit of color. The architrave of the triumphal arch holds a silhouette of the rebuilt Jerusalem, formed entirely from micrographic script.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
This ketubbah from Lugo (Emilia Romagna) was created for the marriage of Joseph, son of the late Samuel Treves, and Vittoria, daughter of Joseph Nahman Modena. In Lugo, artists developed a technique of making intricate cutout borders. Here, for instance, the arch supported by a pair of twisted columns and its floral decorations are entirely formed from such cutouts. The text of the contract has been glued onto an older frame. The colorful scenes and floral decorations are not drawn, but instead were cut from printed non-Jewish sources, glued on and then colored. Nonetheless, the chosen scenes refer to a wedding, such as the young couple in the upper part, or the religious scenes from the Old Testament (Samson and Delilah, Jacob’s ladder, and Joseph as interpreter of dreams).
Online Since: 10/10/2019
This contract celebrates the marriage of Moses, son of Judah, and Esther, daughter of Isaac, that took place in 1900 in Cochin, South India. According to the Indian caste system, the Jews of Cochin, very few of whom live there today, are divided into three groups: the Malabari (or black Jews) - whose namesake is the Indian coast of Malabar -, merchants who boast of their descent from King Solomon; the Paradesi (or white Jews) who arrived in Kerala during the colonial period; and the Meshuhrarim, originally slaves of Jewish merchants, who converted and were freed. The Jewish community of Cochin distinguished itself in numerous artistic fields, especially in the production of ketubbot. Based on its division into two sections, the present contract is typical of Indian production: the upper part of the document is taken up by lengthy blessings and biblical verses, written in square letters, while the lower part contains the actual wedding contract, written in a semi-cursive script. The decoration, consisting of elegant leafy branches in gold (and in yellow for some leaves), simultaneously frames and highlights the texts with its lustrous and shimmering effects.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
This contract is for the marriage of Solomon, son of Abraham, and Rachel, daughter of Elijahu. The total amount of the dowry was set at 26,000 “lion” piastre. This Ketubbah belongs to a type that was particular to Jerusalem between the 1830s and the 1860s. As in other representations, floral decorations in bright colors frame the lower field of text (with the signatures of the bride and groom in the center and the artfully ornamented monograms of two Jerusalem rabbis) as well as the broad band of the tympanum above. In the center of the tympanum is a bouquet of flowers in a vase, flanked to the left and right by cypress trees and date palms, linking the Jerusalem of the present to the promised Jerusalem.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
The bridal couple Solomon, son of Jacob Visino, and Dinah (Gracia), daughter of Samuel Cordovero, were part of the large community of Sephardic Jews living in the thriving, cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic port city of Livorno, where they enjoyed generous privileges bestowed on them by the Medicis, including complete religious freedom. The text is within an architectural frame in the shape of a baroque portal with two double columns. The marriage text is written at right in a Sephardic square script, the conditions at left in a cursive script; these were confirmed by the groom (in Italian) and by the father of the bride (in Spanish). Above the balustrade, two putti hold a cartouche with the emblem of the Visino family. Below that a medallion, framed by the zodiac, shows King Solomon as he joyfully receives the Queen of Sheba.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
The bridal couple, Menahem, son of the deceased R. Samuel Paliano, and Angelica, daughter of Moses Paliano, were members of one of the most respected and richest Jewish families in Rome, as attested by the dowry of 2,500 scudi in cash and an increment of 500 scudi. Delicate rose flowers and tendrils, as well as flying and perching birds are arranged around two concentric oval fields. The family emblem of the Paliani (or Pagliani) family appears above and below the larger oval. The inner oval contains the marriage contract in square script in gold. The outer oval is decorated with careful complete copies of the books Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and Ruth, with traditional verses and with biblical benedictions. This micrography is artfully shaped into interlaced scrolls and labyrinthine designs. The leopard, the eagle, the stag and the lion symbolize virtues which, according to Pirkei Avot 5:23, Jews should faithfully observe.
Online Since: 12/12/2019
This Indian ketubbah is characterized by motifs that were brought to India by Baghdadi Jews from Iraq. The formulaic texts in two adjacent fields, for instance, resemble Islamic prayer niches. Below that is written the content of the contract, which attests that Salih, son of Ezekiel Moses, wed Rebecca, daughter of Benjamin Elijah Jacob, who brought a dowry of 3,195 rupees in gold and silver jewelry, clothing and bed linen. Together with the groom’s supplement, the total sum reportedly reached 5,555 rupees. In the borders, flowers and birds alternate, and at the top two tigers hold a medallion with an inscription. Two fish facing each other symbolize happiness and fertility for the bridal couple. A small third fish between them probably refers to the hoped-for progeny.
Online Since: 12/12/2019