Crown
Object number2016.80.1
Date1960-1965
OriginIsrael
MediumSterling silver; Metal
Credit LineGift of the Temple Hadar Israel
DescriptionSterling silver torah crown.DimensionsHeight x Diameter: 10.25 × 10.75 in. (26 × 27.3 cm)InscriptionsTop center has trapezoidal representation of the Ten Commandments with Hebrew characters in relief on both sides.
On top center, in front of the Ten Commandments finial, is engraved text "IN LOVING MEMORY / OF / ELIAH KAPLAN M.D.".
Top has cut-out Hebrew characters around perimeter.
Side walls have twelve trapezoids, each with Hebrew text.
MarksImprinted text along upper section of base, directly below the trapezoid with the wolf-like animal, on left "MADE IN / ISRAEL / STERLING" and on right "[Hebrew text] / HAND / MADE".
Historical NotesAccording to the donor, this Torah crown was given to Temple Israel in the early 1960s by Bart Lytton in memory of his stepfather Dr. Eliah Kaplan. Dr. Kaplan was a prominent physician in New Castle and believed to be the first, or among the first, Jewish physicians to practice medicine in Lawrence County. A Torah crown is a ceremonial ornament placed onto the poles of a Torah scroll. A Torah scroll is traditionally clothed in ceremonial objects such as a band, a mantle, a pointer and a crown while it is being stored in the ark. These garments are removed when the scroll is read during religious worship services. After the reading, the Torah scroll is redressed in ceremony called gelilah (lit: “rolling up”) Temple Israel was a Jewish congregation in New Castle, Pa. The congregation was chartered in March 1927 and was based out of a synagogue at the corner of Highland Avenue and Moody Street from 1927 until 1997, when it merged with Tifereth Israel Congregation to form Temple Hadar Israel. Temple Israel was a Reform congregation and promoted a liberal form of the religion that included mixed seating during worship, prayers predominately in English and the installation of an organ in the sanctuary.
Related person
Eliah Kaplan M.D.
Related person
Bart Lytton
Related person
Bernie Shulman
Previous owner
Temple Hadar Israel
On View
Not on view
2015
c. 2006
