A Highly Important Torah Ark Curtain with a Matching Valance, Eastern Europe, 18th-20th century

A Highly Important Torah Ark Curtain with a Matching Valance, Eastern Europe, 18th-20th century

This magnificent Torah ark curtain, also known as a parokhet, is an extraordinary testimony to the splendor of synagogue decoration in Eastern Europe. Its monumental size, expert craftsmanship, and unusual iconography combine to create a masterpiece of Judaic textile art. The main panel features the images of five intricately embroidered Temple implements placed within a majestic, three-dimensional architectural setting. At center, the skilled artisan has depicted the Ark of the Covenant with the cherubim above (represented as two stylized wings), the golden Menorah to the left, and the Showbread Table to the right. The foreground of the central panel features the kiyyor (copper washbasin) at right and the Altar of Burnt Offerings with the head of a bull encircled by flames at left.

While the Temple implements are often depicted on the valances that accompany Torah ark curtains, this may be the only extant representation of the holy implements of the Temple ornamenting the curtain itself. The architectural setting within which these implements are placed is undoubtedly a visual reference to the Temple in Jerusalem, and this is made clear by the biblical verse embroidered at center, which references the building of the Tabernacle in the desert: “And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them” (Ex. 25:8). The curtain itself thereby assumes a transporting role, allowing worshippers in the synagogue to imagine themselves in the messianic era when the Temple will be rebuilt. Additionally, it serves as a constant reminder to worshippers that their prayers are the most appropriate way to worship God at a time when the Temple is no longer standing.

It is possible that the artisan who embroidered this parokhet based the highly specific architectural setting on the actual design of the synagogue for which this lavish Torah ark curtain was created, and if this was the case then the visual messages communicated to the worshippers would have been doubly amplified. On the valance, also known as a kapporet, that is attached to the curtain, three crowns are depicted: the crowns of priesthood and kingship are to the right and left of the Tablets of the Law, and the crown of the Torah surmounts them, as is appropriate for a curtain designed to be hung in front of a Torah ark. 

To decorate this splendid curtain, the artisan used many layers of silver and gilt metallic yarn and employed a multitude of stitching techniques, including satin stitch, raised stem, outline stitch, crouching, bullion knot stitch, and cross stitch. Colored silks were used to imitate the colors of mounted jewels in the crowns.

The inscription at the top of the textile informs us that it was rededicated in 1911 for the Beit Yisra’el Synagogue. The inscription at the base tantalizingly records that the curtain was dedicated in memory of Rabbi Aryeh Leib Kahana and his wife Sarah. Perhaps the most famous rabbi with this same name was Rabbi Aryeh Leib ha-Kohen Heller (ca. 1745-1812), a renowned Talmudist and halakhist known especially on account of his magnum opus, Ketsot ha-hoshen. Rabbi Aryeh Leib was a fifth-generation descendant of Rabbi Yom Tov Lipmann Heller and was married to Sarah Margulies. The magnificence of the textile would certainly have been a fitting memorial to this important rabbinic personality.

Physical Description

Central panel: 18th century; rededicated in 1911 and placed onto new velvet backing. Velvet and silk fabrics embroidered with gilt and multicolored silk threads, mounted beads, and paillettes (121 x 65 in.; 3070 x 1650 mm).

Literature

Bracha Yaniv, Ceremonial Synagogue Textiles: From Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Italian Communities, trans. Yohai Goell (London: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2019), 193-252.