An Illustrated Traveler’s Prayer and Bedtime Shema (Tefilat ha-Derekh and Kriyat Shema ‘al ha Mitah) [Germany,] 1757

A charming miniature Hebrew prayerbook written and illustrated by the professional scribe-artist Moses ben Jacob Schnatich. 

The early eighteenth century witnessed a renewed taste for decorated Hebrew manuscripts. Beginning in Central Europe, talented scribe-artists produced luxurious books for wealthy Court Jews who enjoyed a privileged status as a result of the services they rendered to the kings and princes of Europe. By mid‑century, skilled scribe‑artists supplied pocket sized anthologies of occasional prayers that balanced practical function with ornament for prosperous patrons beyond the court, often introducing kabbalistic elements and folk traditions not typical of the earlier manuscripts. Such miniature prayerbooks were frequently presented as gifts on life‑cycle occasions, especially marriages, and were valued for their clear, eminently readable text and pleasing decoration.

The present manuscript follows that model, pairing an extended Traveler’s Prayer —augmented with protective supplications, incantations and practices—with the full Bedtime Shema according to the Lurianic kabbalistic rite. Executed in a careful hand and enriched with small paintings, colored initials, and ornamental word‑panels, it is a representative and well‑finished example of the miniature illuminated prayerbooks—among the finest of its kind to have come to market in recent years.

The title page records completion in the week of Passover 5516 (1757) and identifies the scribe as Moses ben Jacob Schnatich, who notes that he was residing in the home of the recipient, Zisel Kronich, and prepared the book as a gift. Schnatich was among the most skilled of the scribe‑artists who supplied this niche of devotional manuscripts in the eighteenth century.

Contents

2r–13v: Extended Tefilat ha‑derekh, with additional prayers, incantations, and protective practices for the road.

14r–35r: Bedtime Shema according to the Lurianic kabbalistic rite.

Illumination and decoration

• Decorated title‑page, elaborately drawn.
• Miniatures and word‑panels:
• 2v: Wagon drawn by two horses with figures within and without.
• 12r: Horseman between a bird and a tree.
• 14r: Opening word‑panel “Elohai”, with floral designs.
• 18r: Opening word‑panel “Barukh”, with a bird and floral motifs.
• 25r: Opening word‑panel “Ha‑malakh”, floral border and a winged cherubic head above.
• 28v: King David playing a ram's-head harp.
• Additional colored initials throughout; layout designed for clear recital.

Physical description

[1]–35 leaves (97x61 mm); Miniature manuscript; Hebrew text in a neat hand; ink and polychrome pigments with gilding on prepared leaves; six principal painted elements plus an illuminated title‑page and several colored initials; foliation as noted above (2r–35r cited in contents). 

Binding: contemporary brown morocco decoratively gilt-stamped with rules and foliate designs; all edges gilt; housed in a contemporary leather slipcase, with paste paper lining.

Literature

L. Fuks and R. G. Fuks-Mansfeld eds., Hebrew and Judaic Manuscripts in Amsterdam Public Collections, Volume 1 (Leiden, 1973), 76–77.