Torah-shield
- Inventory number:
- Мт-323
- Author:
- Israel Shekman
- Creation Date:
- 1895
- Place of Creation:
- Poland, Warsaw
- Provenance:
- Prayer house "Smiret Hatfila", Lviv, Lviv Historical Museum
- Technique:
- casting, repousse, engraving, soldering
- Size:
- 30 x 28 cm
- Material:
- silver
- Type of object:
- Torah-shield
- Subject:
- Judaism
The Torah shield is one of a set of items that accompanies the Torah scroll. This is a silver plate in the form of a heraldic shield with chains that hung on the Torah scroll. The design of these shields usually included the following elements: a crown that symbolized the crown of the Torah, two columns that symbolized the columns of Jachin and Boaz that stood at the entrance to the Jerusalem Temple, tablets, a symbol of the Law that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. The shield itself was also reminiscent of the breastplate worn by the chief priests during the time of the Jerusalem Temple. Shields very often have a niche for special removable plates with the names of Jewish holidays, which act as a kind of bookmarks for the scroll.
