An Exquisite Torah Binder, Italy: ca. 1700

Multicolored silk embroidery on silk (8  5/8  x 91  3/8  in.; 22 x 232 cm)

This magnificent Torah binder is lavishly embroidered with scrolling foliate and floral motifs and embellished with a lengthy Hebrew inscription, indicating that this Torah binder was prepared and designed for the honor and glory of God by the esteemed Devora me-ha-Hazanim (of the Cantorini family), wife of the faithful Hanania Eliakim Franchetti Harari. Italian Torah binders were frequently created by wealthy women of the Jewish community who donated them to the synagogue in honor of their male relatives. They were embellished with delicate floral motifs and elaborate stitching; a few are further embroidered with dedicatory inscriptions indicating they were produced in honor of their husbands or in memory of a deceased relative. So highly valued was the creation of these beautiful objects for the synagogue, that in the 16th century, the rabbis of Italy introduced a prayer to be recited every Sabbath morning, praising “the daughters of Israel" who fashioned textile adornments in honor of the Torah.