December 11, 2020, 1:52pm
For Chanukah this year, we’re looking back not back to the Maccabees, but still pretty far back. Today we’re “shining a light” (ha ha ha) on some medieval manuscripts that deal with Chanukah. Enjoy!
The David Bar Pesah Mahzor, 14
th-century Germany.
This 1156-page two-volume text is named after its scribe and decorator, who had a very particular design style: the initial words of many prayers and poems in the Mahzor are rendered in distinctive black-and-red embellished calligraphy, and sometimes given full-page multicolor illuminated word panels. The text contains both standard liturgical texts and piyutim, poems to enhance festive synagogue services on the Holidays and special Shabbats. Below is one of the included piyutim, “