Kol Shofar, the call of the shofar, is the primary commandment of Rosh Hashanah referred to in the Bible as Yom Tru’ah, a day of sounding the shofar. In the synagogue, the congregation waits with bated breath for the wordless wail of the shofar to pierce the heavens.
Minhagim books, concise compendia of Jewish laws and customs, emerged as a literary genre in the 1600s. Designed for a popular audience, many of them were written in Yiddish, the vernacular of much of Ashkenazic Jewry. Some editions included illustrations for specific holidays. One such volume, housed in the library’s rare book room, published in Frankfurt in 1708, features coppercut engravings, such as this one of a man blowing a shofar.
This volume of the 1708 Minhagim book is unique; it is a printed volume with a surprise. Printed books and coppercuts of the time were typically in black and white. An owner of this book, sometime during its travels, painted three of the woodcuts in full color. The artist followed the lines of the coppercut, occasionally embellished them, and chose interesting colors for completing the work on the illustrations. The colors and patterns the artist used may be based on ones which were popular when the color was applied. The colors shed light and life on an era which we typically think of as black and white.
Here are the three illuminated coppercuts in this Minhagim book, of three recurring rituals performed on Sabbath and holidays: lighting candles, making Kiddush, and reciting Havdalah. May this Rosh Hashanah and the coming year be blessed with light: light from Shabat candles and Havdalah, and may the verse “and the Jews had light, happiness, joy, and respect,” communally recited at Havdalah, come to fruition.
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Posted by Shulamith Z. Berger
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