The NMAJH Registry is a digital catalog of artifacts, documents, photographs and other objects that tell the story of the Jewish people in America. Each month, the NMAJH will feature a different artifact from the Registry. The first featured artifact comes from the NMAJH’s collection, but future featured artifacts will illustrate the extraordinary collections of other museums, institutions and individuals across the country and represented in the NMAJH Registry.

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Carving from the Congregation Shaarei Eli Torah Ark
Philadelphia, PA, ca., 1918
Wood, carved and painted
20 x 42 x 7½

National Museum of American Jewish History
Gift of Congregation Shaare Eli. Funds for conservation of the Torah ark were provided by Jeanne Saligman Levin, Philadelphia, in loving memory of her mother, Mary Saligman Levin and sister, Augusta Saligman Levin.

The carving is an element of the Congregation Shaarei Eli Torah Ark. The NMAJH began conservation of the carving in 1984, along with other rare and precious objects which faced ruin following the closure of the building in 1981. Founded in 1917 in South Philadelphia, the synagogue was forced to close its doors as the population shifted and the second and third generation children of the founders moved away from the old neighborhood.

The position of the hands in the carving symbolize the Priestly Blessing given in the time of the Temple in Jerusalem and recited in synagogues today. The Blessing comes from Numbers 6:24-26, stating: “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord deal kindly and graciously
with you; The Lord bestow his favor upon you and grant you his friendship.”

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