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Yad (a pointer used for Torah reading)

Unknown artist1801/1900

The Polish Museum in Rapperswil

The Polish Museum in Rapperswil
Rapperswil, Switzerland

A yad made of silver-plated ivory, with a silver chain. At one end of the pointing stick, a cast representation of a hand with an outstretched index finger.
A yad was used during the public reading of the Torah, since the Jewish tradition prohibited touching the scroll containing the holy scriptures with a bare finger. The name derives from the Hebrew word “yad” which means “a hand”. That is why the pointers typically had the shape of a hand with an outstretched index finger. The accompanying chain was used for suspending the pointer on the Torah which was dressed in a mantle (Heb. “meil”- ornamental cover), and decorated with a crown (Heb. “keter” - lavishly decorated crowning), and a special shield (Heb. “tas”).

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  • Title: Yad (a pointer used for Torah reading)
  • Creator: Unknown artist
  • Date created: 1801/1900
  • Physical Dimensions: Length: 20.7 cm, Chain length: 26 cm
  • Provenance: In the collection of the Polish Museum in Rapperswil since 1978 (a gift, bequeathed in the last will of Iza Landsberger-Poznańska).
  • Type: Yad
  • Medium: Cast in silver, die-cut, ivory
The Polish Museum in Rapperswil

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