Fascinating. Thanks for the lecture. I will look for these boxes. So much you uncover that helps us understand the culture of that time period. Thanks!
I love your programs/lectures. They’re a big help for me as an uninformed individual trying to understand the rich beautiful and fascinating history. Hope to hear you at some event sometime. I may have the subtitles turned off from some step not taken but if your RU-vid videos do not access to subtitles, it would be greatly appreciated, if offered. Sincerely Yours, Frank Kirby III
Another option, one that comes out of Italy and the Papal States, was that Jews were limited in what work they could do, and were expressly forbidden from working with metal, lest they organise a rebellion. As such, when the Jews of Italy needed religious artifacts, they had to go to Christian metalworkers, who drew inspiration from the church. As such, a visit to the Jewish museum in Rome will bring one into contact with a number of rimonim (for example) that look like the crown of the Pope.
I think the reason for citadel tower emulation of the Christian monstrance box for havdalah ,was to symbolize the tower of David. The tower of David near Mt. Zion ,although probably also a term coined by Christians from Byzantine time, became a Jewish symbol for remembering Jerusalem and הר ציון .On Motzei Shabbat King David has a even more significant meaning. דא היא סעודתא דדוד מלכא משיחא דוד מלך ישראל חי וקים In Yiddish it was called a בשמים ביקסל. Not sure what the root of that word is. Interestingly enough it is in this compound at הר ציון where the Christians believe that the Nazarene ate his last supper and held it holy . The Jews when possible tried wrestling it from their hands . The jews even managed to gain control of הר ציון in the late Mamluk period. This infuriated Rome and as a punishment Jews were not given access to the pilgrimage ships leaving Venice. This is why it took R’ Obadiah of Bartenura two and a half years instead of 3 weeks to travel to the holy land. This is still being contested to this day by the Vatican who wants it in their dominion. ועלו מושיעים בהר ציון לשפוט את הר עשיו
Oh, inappropriate illuminations is not limited to cultural misunderstandings. There are instruction-books with teaching donkeys. Prayerbooks with f+++ing animals (and monks). People shooting each other in inappropriate places and other strange comics that hardly fit the 'religious seriousness' of the text - or the churchwalls - are very common.
