Torah Binder

The scribes of Jerusalem began to write the five books of the Hebrew Bible on one scroll some time during the 1st century C.E. Their practice was universally adopted by the 4th century with the result that the Torah became a very large and bulky scroll, necessitating two supporting rods, rather than the single rod in general use during antiquity. The size of the Torah also made necessary the use of a binder to hold the rolled scroll together and to prevent the ripping and tearing of the parchment.

Sephardic Jews of Italy and Turkey developed traditions for decorating and donating Torah binders that contrast markedly with Ashkenazi practices. Instead of the symbolic and scenic elements found on northern examples, Sephardic binders are usually embellished with commonplace floral motifs that are also found on ecclesiastical and domestic textiles. The widespread distribution of these embroidery motifs was due to the printing of pattern books in the late 15th and 16th centuries. Motifs like the repeated pattern of branches, oak leaves, and grape clusters on this example are purely decorative and without symbolic value.

The inscriptions on Italian binders generally indicate their donation by a woman, rather than their dedication in honor of a male child, which was the Ashkenazic usage. "In honor of the pure Torah, my hand raised an offering, I Honorata...wife of ...Samuel Foa...,'it is such a little one' (Gen. 19:20), the year 5343 (=1582/3)." Sometimes, the inscription is more specific and indicates that the donation was prompted by an important event in the donor's life cycle, such as marriage or the birth of a child. In fact, the role of Italian Jewish women as donors of textiles for the Torah was so prominent as to have been incorporated into the liturgy of Roman Jews. "He who blessed our matriarchs, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, may he bless every daughter of Israel who makes a mantle or cover in honor of the Torah."

The Foa binder is one of the earliest Italian examples extant. Its composition, a horizontal band of decoration over a band of inscription, is relatively simple and may simply be an adapted border decoration with an added Hebrew inscription. Other 16th century examples bear a more complex arrangement: bands of alternating text and decoration, which create stripes that run diagonally in the rectangular field.