Torah shield. Austro-Hungary, late 19th / early 20th century.
Cast silver, repoussé and engraved. Marked: Diana's head and maker's mark – A•M (on verso, on cover of plaque compartment).
Decorated with large flowers and leaves. A pair of lions, langued, support the Tablets of the Law, surmounted with a large relief crown. With an opening designed to display interchangeable plaques (three plaques included; two are double-sided: "Yom Kippur" / "Rosh Hashanah"; "Pesach" / "Shavuot". The third plaque, which also serves as cover of the compartment, reads: "Chag HaSukkot"). Original chain.
Height: 38 cm, width: 30 cm.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.

Ornate wood and silver Torah scroll case, two pairs of silver Torah finials and two silver Torah pointers; two items with dedicatory inscriptions mentioning Rabbi Meir Moshe Hillel of the Iraqi Jewish community in India. India, late 19th century to mid-20th century (with dedicatory inscription from Israel, 1963).
1. Torah scroll case. India, 1890/91.
Wood; velvet; silver, pierced, cut and engraved; rivets.
Wooden case, covered with blue velvet. Graceful silver bands to lower and upper edges; silver latches. Two dedicatory silver shield-shaped plaques, one with dedication of Rabbi Meir Moshe Hillel in memory of his late mother, dated 5651 (1890/91). The other plaque, dated 1963, was added in Israel.
R. Meir Moshe Hillel, a Torah scholar of Baghdad, served also as Rabbi of the Jewish-Iraqi communities in Mumbai and Kolkata. A native of Baghdad, he studies under R. Abdallah Somekh and later moved to Mumbai, where his business flourished. His brother, R. Abraham Moshe Hillel (died 1920), was chief rabbi of Baghdad and grandfather of Kabbalist Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Hillel, head of the Ahavat Shalom Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Height: 58 cm. Diameter: 28 cm. Good condition. Some damage. Heavy wear to velvet throughout.
2-3. Two pairs of Torah finials. [Cochin? Late 19th to early 20th century].
Silver, cast and engraved.
Small finials. Shafts with thick ring-like bands; onion dome-shaped body, hung with chains ending with hollow silver orbs. One shaft engraved with four Hebrew letters.
Height: 16 cm. Good condition. Missing chains and orbs. Bends.
4-5. Two Torah pointers. [India, first half of the 20th century].
Silver, cast and engraved.
Long pointers, half rectangular prism and half cylindrical. Both with stylized link to one edge. Engraved dedicatory inscription to one pointer by Rabbi Meir Moshe Hillel, dated 5681 (1920/21).
Length: 37 cm. Good condition. Some damage and bends.
Provenance: Sha'ar HaShamayim Bulgarian Synagogue, Haifa.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.

Chanukah lamp. Austro-Hungary, late 19th / early 20th century
Cast silver, repoussé and turned; remnants of gilding; marked: Diana's head and maker's mark: TD (Theodor Dörr?).
Occupying the center of the tall backplate is a pair of lions, langued, supporting the Tablets of the Law (blank), surrounded with foliate designs. Detachable row of oil fonts, designed as jugs. Detachable servant lamp.
Height: 27.5 cm, width: 25.5 cm. Overall good condition. Lacking screw and bolt. Minor corrosion.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.