998 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



Deuteronomy vi, 4-9, and xi, 13-21, written on slips of parchment, 

 attached to leather straps for binding on the forehead and left arm. 

 In the case for the head the passages are written on four separate strips, 

 and in the case for the hand on one piece of parchment, and put into a 

 square case. They are called tejillin in the Talmud, a word derived from 

 tefillah (prayer). The JSTew Testament refers to their ostentatious use.' 



Silk prayer shawl ( Tallith). — The tallith is a kind of prayer shawl 

 made of silk, wool, or linen, with ^■iglth or fringes fastened to the four 

 corners, worn by men at the morning services. It is usually adorned 

 with horizontal stripes of blue or purple; the Jews in the Orient substi- 

 tute for these stripes a blue ribband worked in the corners. The wear- 

 ing of a garment with fringes is commanded.^ In ancient times this 

 garment, it seems, was worn as an outer robe." At ])resent the Jews 

 wear, besides the tallith, a kind of vest with fringes under the upper 

 garments, which is called the "small tallith" {tallith Icaton), or the "four 

 corners" [arha Iranfoth). 



Gold wedding ring. (See i)late 11, fig. 2.) The Jewish marriage 

 is made valid by the Kiddushin^ i. e., by the bridegroom putting a ring 

 on the hand of the bride while saying the words: "Behold, thou art 

 wedded to me by this ring according to the law of Moses and Israel." 



Marriage contract {kethubah), written ou parchment and illumi- 

 nated. (See plate 22.) In the Jiethuhah, or marriage contract, are 

 recorded the obligations of the husband and the amount of the dowry 

 allowed the bride. There is an established form of the Icethnhah usually 

 beginning with the words: "Under good auspices, and with good luck 

 to bridegroom and bride, 'Whoso findeth a wife flndeth a good thing, 

 and obtaineth favor of the Lord.' "^ The husband pledges himself to 

 love and honor his wife and to provide for her becomingly. The min- 

 imum of the dowry is fixed by the law to be 200 shekles (about $50) 

 for a virgin and 100 (about $25) for a widow or divorced woman. To 

 this is usually added what the bride has received from her parents and 

 what the husband settles ou her voluntarily, all of which she gets in 

 case of the death of the husband, or of divorce. The contract is dated 

 Eome, in the year of creation 5576 (1810). The contracting parties are 

 Elijah Saki and Masal-Tob (Fortune), of Oastlenuovo. The witnesses 

 to the contract are Josua Gerson Ashkenazi and Michael Ohayim 

 Megula. 



The margin is decorated with various symbolical figures, and contains 

 the liturgy of the wedding ceremony and i)assages from the Bible and 

 the Talmud referring to marriage and married life, artistically inter- 

 twined in garlands. Above, in the center, are probably the arms of the 

 bridegroom ; to the right a boy standing on a wheel pouring out the 

 horn of plenty, with the motto, "All depends on merit and good luck;" 

 to the left a female figure with tambourines, and the words, "Peace 



' Matthew xxiii, 5. 3 Matthew xxiii, 5. 



'^Numbers xv, 37-41; Deuteronomy xxii, 12. ^Proverbs xviii, 22. 



