This is a Shabbat scene painted in Germany in 1728. A woman is lighting and saying the blessings over the Shabbat candles which are in a Shabbat lamp called a Judenstern (German for Jewish star) that was common at this time in central Europe. The Shabbat lamp hangs from the ceiling and has six branches, reminiscent of a six-pointed star. There are two more lamps on the walls in front of metal plates that serve to reflect and enhance the light and two windows. The table is laid with a white tablecloth, used traditionally to express the purity and sanctity of Shabbat. The woman is wearing typical German clothes of the time.
Above the picture is a German text written in Hebrew letters that describes the illustration. Until modern times Jews in Germany, despite speaking German, could read Hebrew letters but not German letters. German texts were therefore often written in Hebrew letters. Underneath the picture is the Hebrew blessing for the Shabbat candles: “Praised are you, Eternal our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by the commandments and ordered us to light the Sabbath candles.”
According to Jewish tradition, women light candles on Friday evening before sunset to bring in the Shabbat. Today candles are normally lit in candlesticks. The Judenstern seen here is a hanging Shabbat lamp traditionally used by Jews in Germany and Central Europe. Unlike the candles used today, this lamp includes small receptacles for oil and a wick and underneath the candelabra is a bowl that drains the oil.
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Shabbat Candles – Shabbat candles are lit to usher in Shabbat on Friday night. At least two candles are lit, although many people light more, with two candles represent the two versions of the commandment to celebrate Shabbat found in the ten commandments: one using the word shamor (keep) and one using the word zachor (remember). Candles are lit for the purpose of shalom bayit (peace in the house) and oneg Shabbat (Shabbat pleasure), since without the light of the candles, the family would not be able to see or enjoy their Shabbat dinner. The candles are therefore traditionally lit on the dining room table or in the room where the meal will be eaten. The procedure for lighting Shabbat candles includes reciting the blessing for the candles, which officially initiates Shabbat. The candles are usually lit by the women of the family, and while reciting the blessing they traditionally stretch their arms to hide the flames.
The Jewish Community of Germany – The first evidence of Jews living in Germany is from the early Middle Ages. As in other European countries, the Jews in Germany prospered in trade, industry, agriculture, and money lending but were also victims of persecution, false accusations, and massacres. The cities of Mainz, Speyer, and Worms were great centres of Jewish learning, but at the time of the Crusades, entire communities were murdered there. In the fourteenth century, Jews were blamed for the outbreak of the Black Death, and following mass slaughter, many fled to Poland. In the following centuries the persecution of German Jews continued, despite the changes of the renaissance period. Change came towards the end of the eighteenth century with new ideas of religious equality and Moses Mendelssohn’s steps to promote integration and a Jewish Enlightenment (Haskala) and to create bonds with the Christian society. The nineteenth century brought pogroms known as the Hep-Hep riots but also gradual emancipation. Jews became increasingly integrated into the German society, and many became part of the intellectual, financial, and political elite of the country. In 1933 more than half a million Jews lived in Germany. However, anti-Semitism was on the rise, and the Nazi party grew in strength. More than 300,000 German Jews fled the country in the early years of the Nazi regime, while the Jews who stayed were victim to pogroms such as the November Pogrom (named by the Nazis Kristallnacht), anti-Jewish laws, and ultimately deportation to ghettos and death camps in Eastern Europe. During the Holocaust more than 130,000 German Jews were murdered. After the war, the Jewish community of Germany slowly began to rebuild itself, and in the 1990s many Jews from the former Soviet Union arrived in the country, such that today the majority of Jews in Germany are of Russian origin. The estimated number of Jews in Germany today is approximately 250,000.
