A besamim is a spice vessel used for the ritual of Havdalah, the separating with the Sabbath. The seventh day of the week on the Jewish calendar is the Shabbat, a day of rest and prayer. The tradition goes back to God’s Covenant, who created the world for six days and rested on the seventh. The beginning of the Sabbath is solemnly celebrated by lighting candles and reciting kiddush, a special blessing over wine in a festive goblet.

“Havdalah” literally translates as “separation”: this ritual concludes the Sabbath day and sets the Jew up for the work week. It is performed on Saturday evening, an hour after sunset, because, in Judaism, days do not change at midnight, but at sunset. Women light candles because the commandment says, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” And men recite the blessing over a goblet of wine.

This prayer includes the following words:
“You have given us the ability to comprehend Your Torah and taught us to obey the laws established according to Your will. And You, Most High, have separated the holy from the mundane, light from darkness, Israel from the nations, the seventh day from the six work days.”

All the prohibitions of the Sabbath day, and there are 39 of them, are valid as long as this text is pronounced. To soften the bitterness of separation with the Sabbath, pleasant incense is used during the Havdalah. The box of aromatic spices is called “hodesh” or “besamim”. Jewish law does not specify what spices must be in it, one can choose them according to one’s taste. Inhaling the aroma, the whole family undergoes a ritual of purification. After the ritual, it is customary to extinguish the candle and begin the meal in honor of the separation with Shabbat Queen.

Silver vessels for spices are among the favorite products of Jewish artisans. Herbal, floral, and interior motifs were very popular for the design of besamim. The three-tiered besamim with a rich baroque vase in the center looks exquisite and solemn. The composition is completed by a plant with small flowers. The plant looks like a sunflower. On the smooth surface of the flower is an engraved thanksgiving text in Hebrew. At the bottom, there is a pair of small animal figures.

Наименование: Besamim — spice vessel for Havdalah ritual
Дата создания: the mid-19th century
№ Госкаталога:
Место создания: Poland
Техника: embossing, forging
Размеры: 17.2×8 cm

In October, Jews celebrate one of their major holidays, Sukkot. It is a festival of harvest, autumnal fertility, joy and fun. Another name for Sukkot is the Feast of Booths, because it is customary to eat and sleep in tents to commemorate the 40 years of wandering in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. This is what it says in one of the commandments:

“Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

One of the main commandments of Sukkot is the raising of a lulav, a bundle of four kinds of plants: etrog, date palm, myrtle and willow. “Etrog” is the Hebrew name for the citron, a fruit that resembles a lemon. It is the main one of the four Sukkot plants because, unlike the others, it has both a pleasant taste and aroma. The etrog is also used for many other Jewish rituals. The Torah says, “And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of a splendid tree, the branches of a palm tree, and the shoots of a bushy tree, and the willows of a river, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.”

The process of selecting and buying the perfect etrog was an important ceremony for a devout person. Today, the citron grows in many countries, but in ancient times it was imported from India and Western Asia, so the fruit was very expensive and it was not easy to find an etrog in perfect condition. The fruit had to be preserved throughout the whole of Sukkot, which is seven days.

Special vessels and carriers were used to store the precious fruit. Wealthy Jews had them made from silver, and ordinary people — from wood. The silver carriers could be in the shape of a jewelry box or a fruit, and jewelers decorated them as works of Jewish decorative art.

After the feast, the Jews could continue to keep the etrog in a box to use it also for the ritual of Havdalah — saying goodbye to the Sabbath with prayer and spices. In this way the fruit progressed from one commandment to the next. The Jews pierced the citron with an awl and placed dried cloves in the hole. In a closed container its fragrance would become spicy and rich.

Полное наименование: Etrog box
Дата создания: the late 18th — early 19th centuries
Место создания: Moscow, the Russian Empire
Техника: casting, embossing
Размеры: 13×24 cm