Contents

Introduction

The Life and Life’s Work of William Gross, Collector of Judaica

Dora Liscia Bemporad

A Late Gothic Carved Pair of Torah Staves from Italy

Falk Wiesemann

The Earliest Torah Binders (Wimpels) from Ashkenaz, before 1650

Annette Weber

Center Stage: Torah Silver from Remote East Frisia

J. H. Chajes & Eliezer Baumgarten

About Faces: Kabbalistic Visualizations of the Divine Visage in the Gross Family Collection

Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek

Unconventionally Orthodox

Esther Juhasz

The Other Side: Prayer Book Shivitis with Texts on the Back

Shalom Sabar

Abraham bar Jacob and the Creation of his Copper-engraved Childbirth Amulet from Amsterdam, 1700

Bernhard Purin

Hevra Kadisha Beakers from Frankfurt’s Goldsmith Workshops

Emile Schrijver

Eighteenth-Century Hebrew Manuscripts in the Gross Family Collection, or: A Private Quest for Method

David Stern

Scrolling Through the Haftarah

Chaim Fuchs

Killing an Enemy in the Literature of Practical Kabbalah

Ira Rezak

Engaging Mystery: A Late Medieval Hebrew-Christian Kabbalistic Medal

Moshe Hillel

The Rashash’s Meditation Prayer Books – Between Tradition and Innovation

David Trobisch

Rabbi Eleazar Fleckeles: A Humash, a Friendship, and an Anecdote

Zsuzsanna Toronyi

Markus Donath/Mordecai Sofer Stam of Nitra

Sharon Liberman Mintz & Elka Deitsch

From Marrakech to Milan: The Artistic Journey of Makhluf/Michele Allun

Bracha Yaniv

The Story behind a Baghdadi Torah Case

Batsheva Goldman-Ida

From Talisman to Judaica: The Magical and Mystical Sides of the Shmire (Blessed Coin)

Zanet Battinou & Christina Meri

Seeking Protection: Shaddayot and Alephiot in the Romaniote World

Chen Avizohar-Hagai & Yuval Harari

Childbirth Magic in Amulets and Recipes from the Gross Family Collection

Gideon Bohak

An Ancient Babylonian Text on a Modern Jewish Amulet

Sharon Weiser-Ferguson

Bernhard Friedlander: Revolutionary Traditionalist

Authors

Biographies

Colophon

William Gross
photograph by Rani Moscowitz

Introduction

The Life and Life’s Work of William Gross, Collector of Judaica

To be in the home of William Gross is to be at the epicenter of the Judaica world. The phone rings at 10:00 am. It is a Judaica dealer requesting to meet with William to discuss an object that the dealer has just acquired. “With pleasure! Let me check my schedule for this afternoon…” William replies enthusiastically. At 11:30 the doorbell rings… a shipment of objects from the Gross Family Collection has just returned from an exhibition abroad. “Wonderful!” William exclaims to the delivery crew. He offers them cool drinks before they begin to unpack. The phone is ringing as the door closes behind them… a scholar-friend from America is coming to Israel in a few months. Would it be possible to stay at William and Lisa’s for a couple of nights? “Absolutely! I’ll check with Lisa, but I’m sure it’s fine.” It always is. 12:30 pm sees the arrival of two local academics, eager to examine the material William has set aside for them. “Brukhim ha-ba’im!” William cries out affectionately. Ah, and here’s the dealer (and his friend) who called this morning. A little earlier than expected, but no matter, William can juggle both sets of visitors… and the incoming call… about an interesting piece of Judaica coming up for auction next week. “What a crazy day!” William effuses, a huge smile spreading across his face, “I am the luckiest man I know.”

William Leigh Gross was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 15 October 1939. He attended Harvard University, majoring in history and graduating magna cum laude. As he is so fond of telling, his passion for collecting Judaica was sparked by his late father-in-law, Judaica collector Maurice Spertus, founder of the Spertus Museum, Chicago. William began collecting in 1964 with the purchase of a single spice tower. In 1969, after a few years in business and Jewish public life in America, he made Aliyah with his greatest supporter, his wife Lisa, and their three children, Daniella, Aaron and Noah. His collecting efforts continued and expanded exponentially in Israel, fueled by a passion that borders on obsession. “Collectors, and especially passionate collectors, are by nature obsessive,” he readily admits. “I certainly would include myself in that definition, and I assure you that if you do not believe me you have only to ask my family!” Indeed, William’s passion for collecting Judaica developed into his life’s work.

Shmire Hasidic Epl-Becher (Apple-Shaped Kiddush Cup), Ukraine, late 19th century, silver, chased and incised, cast, 20 × 9.5 cm. GFCTrust 017.001.071

Although several thousand objects have been added to Gross Family Collection since that first spice tower, William’s activities as a collector extend far beyond the acquisition of objects. He is an acquirer of knowledge. A recorder of information. A cataloger of the highest order. His personal Judaica database, which he has built up over the past 25 years, is an unparalleled repository of information about Judaica objects, Jewish iconography, and Judaica reference literature (his own reference library numbers some 15,000 volumes). No other collector possesses a stronger drive, or greater enthusiasm, to personally understand each and every object that comes into his collection. And, as attested by the more than thirty-five articles and essays he has published thus far in books, exhibition catalogues and journals, William’s thirst for knowledge, and dedication to uncovering the significance and meaning of his collection, is never-ending.

Over the course of the last fifty years, William has developed what he calls a “Window Theory of Judaica.” By this he means that each of his objects serves as a window through which one may view Jewish ritual and life in a distinct place and time. Viewed from different angles, every object reflects – and is in fact a product of – the social/political/ economic/intellectual environment in which its owner lived, and in which it was used and venerated. And while many of his objects are of fine artistic quality, and are distinguished for their monetary and artistic value, their ultimate worth, as he sees it, is in their role as historical documents. Peering through these Judaica “windows,” William explains with his infectious enthusiasm, “is as exciting as reading the best current novel or watching the latest fine movie or play or attending a concert of Beethoven’s Ninth. It is a constant, never-ending, ever-changing intellectual and emotional stimulation of the highest degree.”

What truly sets William Gross apart as a collector, however, is his unwavering dedication to sharing his collection, discoveries and resources with all who are interested. William truly views the Gross Family Collection not as a “private” collection, but rather as a “public collection in private hands.” He believes that every object in his possession is the rightful property of the Jewish people. His role, as their temporary custodian, is to preserve them in a safe environment, discover about them all he can, and make them available to others as widely and as often as possible. He fills this role impeccably.