Objects

A rectangular black velvet pouch was used to store tefillin. Embroidered on one side is a Star of David with an inscription in Hebrew (letters: tav, rhesus, samech, chet), indicating the date of the item's manufacture: 1908. On the other side are embroidered multicoloured floral motifs with an inscription in Hebrew: "Shalom Baron", indicating the name of the owner. This suggests that the person for whom the object was made was at least twelve years old at the time. The pouch is trimmed with black string along the edges, with loops at the lower corners. It is trimmed with a ribbon at the top, with three jump rings on both sides that serve to hold the string closing the pouch. The damaged, worn velvet on the fold line of the fabric, the string frayed in several places and the frayed outer part separated from the black lining indicate frequent use of the item.

The set, which includes a tefillin with cover (inventory no. MT.IV.2488/1/a-b) and a velvet pouch was donated to the District Museum in 2015 by Shoshana Tancer, daughter of Tarnów-born Salo Wittmayer Baron (1895-1989), one of the most prominent Jewish historians of the 20th centuryand a lecturer at Columbia University from 1930. and a lecturer at Columbia University from 1930. As the inscriptions on the tefillin and pouch indicate, the item was used by Baron.

Barbara Bułdys