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JUDAICA
JEWISH SILVERWARE:
SPICE TOWER
The use of sweet-smelling herbs and spices roused the creative instincts of artisans and they fashioned
spice boxes in widely varied designs and shapes in gold, silver, brass, glass and wood. In Ashkenazi
circles, the spice box took many forms, from flowers to miniature trains. Most popular, however, from
around the sixteenth century, was the tower form, which was stylistically influenced by local architecture
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According to rabbinic legend, each Jew receives a special soul (neshama yetera) on the Sabbath. As this
extra spiritual dimension departs from the body at the close of the Sabbath, one is overcome with a certain
degree of sorrow. The spices are interpreted as a means of comfort at the moment of transition to the new
week. As it was customary in ancient times to welcome the Sabbath with branches of myrtle, so during the
service to usher out the Sabbath 'the Havdalah ceremony' people inhaled the fragrances of their branches.
In the course of generations, aromatic spices (most popularly cinnamon and cloves in Ashkenazi communities)
began to replace the myrtle.
Jewish ritual silverware include TORAH SHIELD,
RIMMONIM - TORAH FINIAL, YAD -TORAH POINTER,
CHANUKAH LAMP - MENORAH ,
ETROG CONTAINER (SPICE BOX - ESROG BOX),
KIDDUSH CUP (KIDDUSH GOBLET - KIDDUSH BEAKER),
SILVER SPICE TOWER
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