Bidspirit auction | Silver Covered Torah Case (and

Silver Covered Torah Case (and Finials(, with a Gvil inside. Afghanistan-Iran, [1867] - From the Famous Synagogue of the 'Sdei Chemed' and Rabbi Alfandri Ztz”l (The Holy Congregation ”Machane Yehudah”, Jerusalem). In Sofer Stam Script from Aleppo/Baghdad. Sefer Torah written on soft brown Gvil, placed and held in a textile and silver-covered wooden case, with dedications from the 19th century and a pair of contemporary silver finials.  Fabric-covered wood, hammered, embossed and cut tin-silver plates. Glass-covered illustrated paper.  A round case made of wood covered with floral cotton fabric (inside and out). Attached to the fabric are columns of hammered silver plates with a floral design. The upper part of the case is a crown decorated with plates identical to those decorating its body. Six chains with bells hang from the top of the crown. Two diagonal rods for the finials protrude from both sides of the crown.  On its inner part, there are two dedication plates made of glass-covered paper with a wooden frame surrounded by a fine, artistic floral decoration.  The right dedication plate reads: וזאת התורה אשר שם משה לפני בני ישראל אלה החוקים והמשפטים והתורת אשר נתן ה בינו ובין בני ישראל בהר סיני ביד מ' The left one reads: ”תיק זה וספר תורה שבו הקדיש אתו ראובן בן אייהו רפא שנת למען תזכר את יום צאתך מארץ מצרים כל ימי חייך (This case and the Sefer Torah in it were dedicated by Reuven ben Ayhu Rafa in the year of 1867).  The case opens with hinges on its back and closes with a latch on its front.  Height: 102 cm. Width: 27 cm.  Good condition. Several broken plates and blemishes to straps. The velvet is worn in some places.  For a similar case, see: Bracha Yaniv, ”מעשה חושב, התיק לספר התורה ותולדותיו” (published by Bar Ilan and the Ben Zvi Institute, 1998), p. 170.