This coming Sunday and Monday, September 8 and
9, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Beth Tzedec invites you to add to your Judaica
collection. The remaining pieces of our museum collection will be available for
sale including unique artwork and ritual objects. Don’t miss out on this
opportunity to own a piece of our history.
Well, not every remaining piece. Some things are not to be sold. One of them has been brought to my office. It is a silver havdalah spice container (besamim). It is sitting on my desk, and I am staring at it. Many spice boxes are exactly that, boxes. This is more than a box. It is the tower of a castle. Why, I ask myself, are traditional spice boxes designed like this? This one has a spiral at the top with a large flag, four smaller flags emerge from the top corners. Four bells hang from the bottom corners. In the center of one side is a small silver door with a clasp, so that it can be filled with cloves and shut tight.
Some research yields that tower-shaped besamim boxes first appeared in the 16th century. The significance of the flags and bells is not known for certain. Shubert Spiro, Professor of Jewish Thought at Bar-Ilan University has suggested that when the box is handled during havdalah, it is given a little wave, causing the flags to turn and the bells to jingle. It announces that a mitzvah is being fulfilled at that moment. I was thinking that this is like the bells that are attached to some Torah ornaments, announcing that the reading of the Torah is about to or has taken place. A cue from the description of the garments of the priests in the book of Leviticus. They wore bells on the hems of the garments, which alerted the people to the holy tasks that were to be performed.
A more mystical notion is that the Sabbath Queen inhabits the box. Like the mythical genie in a bottle. She emerges from the box once a week when we sing Lekha Dodi (come my beloved). She returns to the box as Shabbat departs, surrounded by the smell of cinnamon and clove, a space between darkness and light. Twilight, a time of fear and uncertain boundaries. So as darkness falls, we ask for light. Not physical light, but a light that removes fear and brings understanding. We begin havdalah with words that include:
...הנה אל ישועתי אבטח ולא אפחד כי־עזי וזמרת יה
:ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששן ויקר
Behold God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid for the Lord is my strength and my song . . . For the Jews there was light and gladness, joy and honour – so may it be for us.
In Jewish tradition, it is believed that during Shabbat we are granted an extra or soul (neshama yetera), which enhances our capacity for joy and connection. As Shabbat end, this extra soul departs. The sweet fragrance of the spices (besamim) is intended to uplift the spirit and help mitigate the sadness or sense of loss that comes with the end of the holy day. While the temple is a symbol of spiritual refuge, the castle is a symbol of protection and fortification. Just what we need for the stresses and challenges of the week ahead.
Addendum:
I look again at the besamim container. The Hebrew inscription on the base reads:
,זאת נדבת אברהם וזוגתו שרה ליפאווסקי תרפז
“This is a donation (from) Abraham and his wife Sarah Lepofsky, 5687 [1926/1927]. Photographs of Mr. & Mrs. Lepofsky, Abraham wearing a top hat, appear on the large portrait celebrating the McCaul Street Synagogue’s 50th anniversary in 1937. (The portrait appears on page 27 of the History of Beth Tzedec Congregation book.) Abraham Lepofsky in that year was the Gabbai. Sarah was on the executive of the Ladies’ Auxiliary. In 1927 she was his second wife, and not the mother of his children and descendants, some of whom are part of our community to this day.
