Embroidered cloth ("parochet") for synagogue pulpit. Gözleve (Yevpatoria), Crimean Peninsula, Kislev 5584 [November 1823].
Gilt metal thread embroidery on silk fabric; cardboard cutout (underneath central ornament).
Rectangular "parochet" intended for synagogue pulpit. A detailed dedicatory inscription is embroidered onto the cloth. It reads as follows: "This parochet over the pulpit was dedicated by … Mordechai the Learned / may his Rock and Redeemer protect him … Eliyahu the Learned Elder of blessed memory to the synagogue / of the holy community of Gözleve to atone for the soul of his spouse Mme. / Rachel the modest woman, may her soul rest in the Garden / and to atone for the soul of his daughter Mme. / Eltin the young (pleasant) virgin, may her soul rest in the Garden, and to atone for the soul of his only son / Eliyahu, the friendly, pleasant young man, may his soul [rest] in the Garden of Eden, and may their cry [with an apparent misspelling here in the Hebrew] rise upward / in the year 5584 on the New Month of Kislev [November 1823]".
At the center of the cloth is a large, symmetrical ornament, embroidered widthwise over a cardboard cutout, similar in shape to palm trees; palms appear as a frequently recurring motif on sacred objects typically found in Egyptian synagogues.
"Gözleve", "Gozlov", or "Gozlevo" is the Hebrew name for the city of Yevpatoria, situated in the Crimean Peninsula on the shores of the Black Sea. The city’s Karaite synagogue complex serves as the spiritual center of the Crimean Karaite community. It includes two synagogues – one large, established in 1807, and one small, dating from 1815 – in addition to various religious facilities.
Karaism or Karaite Judaism rejects the validity of Rabbinic interpretations of the Torah – that is, the concept of an Oral Torah as promoted by Mishnaic, Talmudic, and other, later Rabbinic authorities – and adheres to a strict and literal understanding of the Bible, the so-called "Written Torah". Its origins as a religious movement can be traced back to the teachings of its founding father, Hakham Anan ben David, in the 8th century CE. One of oldest and most prominent centers of Karaite Judaism is in Egypt (which may explain the nature of the ornament in the center of the cloth). Apparently, the Karaite presence on the Crimean Peninsula dates back to the 12th century.
See also: items no. 12-13 in the present catalogue.
Karaite Items are uncommon, and are rarely offered in auctions; Karaite textile items are exceptionally rare.

41.5X50.5 cm. Overall good condition. Minor blemishes to embroidery and to cardboard cutout underpinning cloth. Cloth professionally sewn onto new sheet of fabric for purposes of exhibition and preservation.

Reference and exhibitions:
1. Karaite Jews in the East, in: Peamim, 90. Jerusalem, Yad Ben Zvi, 2002, p. 96 (Hebrew).
2. Shimmering Gold: the splendor of gold embroided textile, by Nitza Behroozi BarOz and Gania Dolev, Tel Aviv, the Eretz Israel Museum, 2007, p. 147 and p. 152, item no. 92 (Hebrew).
3. Reise an kein Ende der Welt. Vienna, Jüdisches Museum Wien, 2001, pp. 122-123.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, 049.013.004.
This cloth is documented on the Center for Jewish Art (CJA) website, item no. 39386.