ATreasu re d Legacy Life CyCL es

From birth to death, Jews mark moments of life’s passage with blessings and rituals. These traditions connect the individual to the community, to generations past and future, and to the Jewish people. Personal and community artifacts enhance the rites and ceremonies that observe life cycle events. These objects tell the story of special moments in Jewish life. They illustrate styles and designs that reflect both the time and place of their creation as well as universal Jewish traditions found across time and diverse cultures.

12320 Nall Avenue

Overland Park, Kansas 66209

913-663-4050 curator@bnaijehudah.org

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Birth

Today, thanks to modern medicine, we experience the excitement and joy of pregnancy and birth in relative safety. However, at one time, the real and imaginary dangers to mother and child included beliefs in demons, the “evil eye,” and spirits. While rabbis frowned upon superstition and “magic,” amulets like these were often used to protect from harm. A woman in childbirth or an infant often had an amulet to invoke God’s protection and to ensure their good health.

I lya S chor B lock P r I nt

This 4.25-by-3.19-inch print is part of the set used to illustrate Abraham Joshua Heschel’s 1950 book The Earth Is the Lord’s: The Inner World of the Jew in East Europe.

n ecklace w th a M ulet c a S e S

From Iraqi Kurdistan in the 19th century, this necklace (with a 4.75-by3.75-inch plaque) is engraved with the owner’s name: Rivka bat Leah (Rebecca, daughter of Leah). The cylinders hold amulets written on parchment. Many of these amulets for pregnant women and newborns were specifically targeted to protect the child from Lilith, whom Talmudic legend tells us was Adam’s first wife. She was childless and threatened to snatch newborns for herself. The swords that hang on the necklace are intended to deter Lilith.

I tal an a M ulet c a S e

This hollow case holds a written amulet to protect the newborn, but the case itself was also thought to hold power, thanks to special symbols and the Hebrew inscription of one of the names for God, Shaddai (The Almighty). Made of gilt silver in the mid-18th century, the 5.5-inch case would have been suspended over an infant’s crib to protect it from spirits, demons and the “evil eye.” a M ulet

This paper-and-ink amulet was made around 1850 in Persia and inscribed with text from the mystical Jewish Kabbalah to protect the amulet’s owner.

a gate a M ulet

The Hebrew lettering on this 1-inch carnelian stone is in the shape of a menorah (a multi-light Jewish lamp). From Iraq or Palestine in the 19th century, the language expresses hope for a male child whose soul will be like that of the famous Jewish King David’s soul: “white as snow” (free from sin).

B r t M I lah a M ulet

This bronze Eastern European amulet (2.68-inch diameter) celebrates the ritual of brit milah (covenant of circumcision) for a young Jewish boy. The traditional threefold blessing for the child reads, “May this boy grow up enriched by Torah, chuppah (a wedding canopy) and good deeds.” The back side of this 18th or 19th century item, calls to seek God’s blessing from disease and bad magic and it reads:

B

racelet a M ulet

Individual amulets in this silver Persian bracelet (9.5 inches long) from the 18th or 19th century bear inscriptions for protection. Three angels are specifically named to protect babies from the child-snatching demon Lilith.