A Hebrew fragment in the Municipal Archive of Münster as a witness to a little-known ritual practice

Date

2024

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Springer Nature Journals

Abstract

The Stadtarchiv in Münster, Germany holds a medieval Hebrew fragment with portions of the daily Shema Yisrael prayer. Measuring 510 mm in height, this fragment is but a quarter of a large-sized parchment sheet, which was designed to be hung on a wall. This study introduces the fragment and describes its material features and then suggests its possible function against the backdrop of talmudic discussions on biblical texts that are incorporated in prayer. In light of the halakhic position that biblical verses should not be recited from memory but only from a written text, the original sheet was intended to provide worshippers with an accessible copy of the Shema text, since many did not have personal prayerbooks.

Description

Scholarly article / Open access

Keywords

Prayerbooks, Recitation of Shema, Literacy, Rabbenu Tam, Sefer Mordekhai

Citation

Kanarfogel, E., & Kogman-Appel, K. (2024). A Hebrew fragment in the Municipal Archive of Münster as a witness to a little-known ritual practice. Jewish History, 37(1-2), 14-30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10835-023-09453-x