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Document Details :

Title: Tradition as Commodity
Subtitle: The Production of Jewish Ceremonial Objects in Hanau am Main
Author(s): FRIEDLANGER, Michal S.
Journal: Studia Rosenthaliana
Volume: 37    Date: 2004   
Pages: 163-191
DOI: 10.2143/SR.37.0.583407

Abstract :
Jewish ceremonial objects achieve their purpose through ritual use: they are vessels which serve a function. Yet these objects are viewed as material culture, as documents of Jewish life in different times and places. But is a Chanukah lamp or a kiddush cup, as an object, an expression of Jewish culture alone? A closer look at the history of Judaica manufacture and dissemination suggests that the object is often the nexus where Jewish and non-Jewish cultures merge in a complicated, symbiotic relationship. Who therefore were the makers, the vendors and the buyers and how does this deepen and change our understanding of the objects?

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