Objects

A decorative challah cover used to protect the bread from drying out while awaiting its blessing and consumption during the Shabbat dinner. The presented cover is made of cotton fabric and has a shape resembling a rhombus with rounded edges. The edge of the cover is wide and entirely decorated with Richelieu embroidery, also known as Venetian embroidery. This type of openwork embroidery imitates lace. Here, the "lace" highlights the contours of flowers and leaves cut into the fabric, creating an ornate, wide frame for the central field.

In the central field of the cover, also using Richelieu embroidery, is a Hebrew inscription: זכור את יום השבת לקדשו הדוצ'ב (Zachor et yom haShabbat lekadesho hadoochev). This is the fourth of the Ten Commandments found in the Second Book of Moses, known as the Book of Exodus (Exodus 20:8-11). In English, this commandment is translated as: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."

The featured cover was donated to the POLIN Museum collection by Lucjanna Kuźnicka (née Adamczyk). The Adamczyk family, originally from the area near Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, received it as a token of gratitude for sheltering the two sons of Icek and Sara Frymel (Chaim and Moses). The rest of the Frymel family (Icek, Sara, and their daughter Blimka) perished in Treblinka. Members of the Adamczyk family were honored with the title of Righteous Among the Nations.