Zemirot Shabbat (Deluxe Edition of Sabbath Table Songs), Miriam Gershtnkoren, [Ashdod: Gershtnkoren Studio, ca. 2010]

Zemirot Shabbat (Deluxe Edition of Sabbath Table Songs), Miriam Gershtnkoren, [Ashdod: Gershtnkoren Studio, ca. 2010]

Designed by Miriam Gershtnkoren, a Tel Aviv native who, together with her husband Yisrael, runs Gershtnkoren Studio in Ashdod, the present volume is a modern artistic interpretation of the classic bentsher. Herein, the Kiddush blessings for the Sabbath and festivals are printed together with the zemirot (various songs and poems traditionally recited at the Sabbath table)—with separate sections for Friday night, Shabbat day, and the third meal—and the birkat ha-mazon (grace after meals). Each opening features a different border design beautifully framing the text of both pages, and vignettes depicting domestic and other scenes are distributed throughout. In addition, three full-page miniatures portray a (Sabbath eve?) market, Jerusalem cityscapes, and a rebuilt Holy Temple. Produced on thick, high-quality paper and bound in a luxurious tooled leather binding, Zemirot shabbat constitutes both a highly usable liturgy and a magnificent objet d’art.

Physical Description

104 pages (11 1/2 x 8 in.; 292 x 202 mm) on paper. Title within architectural frame; each opening framed by a different border; various vignettes distributed throughout; full-page miniatures on pp. 3, 13, 104; enlarged incipits, initials, and initial word panels; general artistic pallet includes black, red, sepia, and gold, with highlights in green, blue, orange, etc; stiff paper dividers between pp. 36-37, 58-59, 86-87. Artist mistakenly left out text in transition from p. 39 to p. 40; minor soiling in lower margin of p. 64. Extensively gilt-tooled thick gray leather, slightly scuffed, with depressed illuminated vignette on paper at center of upper board; spine in five compartments with raised bands, somewhat worn; title lettered in black and gilt on spine; turn-ins gilt; black and gold silk bookmark; stiff paper flyleaves and pastedowns. Housed in a cloth-covered slipcase, slightly worn and stained.

Literature

http://www.gershtn.com/Item.aspx?Id=74