<<Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch’s personal possession.>> Gifted to him by his mother.

The central square element with engraved Hebrew inscription: <<“To my son the Esteemed Rabbi Samson, from his Mother Gella, Wife of Rabbi Raphael. Purim, 1841.”>> Of square-form, the domed base chased with detailed rococo scrollwork, repeated on three elements above. Fitted with sliding drawer containing four compartments for spices. Four vertical rods above, with central sliding candle-holder. With Hamburg marks. Height: 9 inches (22.8 cm). <<Provenance:>> By direct family descent from Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, to the consignor. <<Exhibited:>> Yeshiva University Museum Catalogue, Ashkenaz: The German Jewish Heritage (1988) p. 125 (illus). Daughter of Samson Hertz of Hamburg, Gella Hirsch (1786-1860), the wife of R. Raphael Hirsch (1777-1857) was the mother of the founder of German neo-Orthodoxy, Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888). Active in communal welfare projects, Gella maintained a life of piety lived according to traditional standards. See E.M. Klugman, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch [A Biography] (1996) pp. 4-5. In 1841, R. Hirsch left his first pulpit of Oldenburg in order to assume the Chief Rabbinate of the Province of Hanover. This might have been the occasion that a proud mother made this handsome gift to her son. The concept of combining several ceremonial requirements of the Havdalah ceremony into one beautifully designed object is uniquely German. For another example, see R.D. Barnett, Jewish Museum (London) Catalogue (1974) no. 408 and The B’nai B’rith Klutznick Museum, In the Spirit of Tradition (1988) no. 76.