Torah Pointer – Probably Gibraltar – Dedicatory Inscription of the Benzimra Family, Dated 1836

Torah Pointer – Probably Gibraltar – Dedicatory Inscription of the Benzimra Family, Dated 1836

Silver, cast, turned and engraved (unmarked).
The middle segment of this Torah pointer is four-sided, and bears a Hebrew dedicatory inscription (with multiple abbreviations) extending over all four of its sides: "This Torah scroll is dedicated / to the synagogue by virtue of the departed one, the R. / Raphael Ya’akov Benzimra, may he rest in Eden, in the Month of / Elul Year 5596…" The tip of the pointer is in the form of a clenched fist, with the index finger extended. The other end has a hole through which a suspension ring is attached. A small flower-shaped ornament appears next to the beginning of the dedicatory inscription.

The Benzimra family (also Ibn Zimra, and with different Hebrew spellings of "zimra") is a clan of Sephardi origins. Several of its members were noted rabbis; included among the renowned Torah scholars of this family were Rabbi Abraham Ben Zimra, Rabbi David Ibn Zimra (the Radba"z), and Rabbi Jacob Ben Zimra. "Ben Zimra" was a common Jewish surname in the cities of Morocco, but descendants of the family also made their way to Livorno, Italy, as well as Gibraltar, where one particular alleyway – located in close proximity to the city’s synagogues – bears the name "Benzimra's Alley".
It is possible that the present Torah pointer – insofar as it resembles Torah pointers of European origin – was originally used in one of Gibraltar’s synagogues; it is also possible that it originated from one of the cities of nearby northern Morocco.
For comparison, see: Nitza Behroozi Baroz, From the Remotest West: Ritual Articles from Synagogues in Spanish Morocco, The Hananiah Dahan Collection, exhibition catalogue, Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv, 1989, item no. 4ג.

Length: approx. 27 cm. Width: 1 cm. Good condition.

Exhibitions:
1. Probably, London, Exhibition of Jewish Art and Antiquities, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1906, item no. 932.
2. Jewish Museum of Switzerland, Basel, JMS 1006.
Provenance:
1. Collection of Solomon David Schloss (1815-1911).
2. Lewis Raphael Castle (1858-1932), son of the above.
3. Peter Castle (1922-2011), grandson of the above.
4. Heirs of the above.
This item appears in the inventory list of the Schloss Collection, dated 1923 (see appendix, pp. 146-148), and is documented in a 1931 collection photograph (see p. 11).