A Journey through Jewish Worlds: Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books
December 15, 2010-April 19, 2011Location: Other
Artist: Moritz Daniel Oppenheim
Curator: Rachel Sarfati, Curator in the Department of Judaica
Media: Judaica, Haggadot
One of the world’s most important private collections of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books is shown to the public for the first time on a three-venue world tour culminating in Jerusalem. These masterpieces, drawn from the extensive holdings of René and Susanne Braginsky of Zurich, Switzerland, span seven centuries and include such rare masterworks as a Shema Yisrael traveler’s amulet from the 5th–6th century CE, a small silver plaque inscribed with an unusual combination of biblical verses meant to provide protection for travelers, and a 19th-century haggadah illuminated by Charlotte von Rothschild under the tutelage of the noted German-Jewish artist Moritz Daniel Oppenheim. Journey presents these among other extraordinary examples from the Braginsky collection, alongside related objects from the collection of the Israel Museum.