A DECORATED SHIVVITI, JERUSALEM, 1866

This decorative plaque, known as a shivviti, takes its name from the first word of the biblical verse “I have set [shivviti] God before me always” (Ps. 16:8), which is inscribed at the top of the document. During the nineteenth century, it became a common practice to hang such plaques in synagogues and private homes to serve as a visual and textual reminder of the constant presence of God. The artist of the present colorful example has drawn a stylized illustration of the menorah, the seven-branched candelabrum kindled in the Temple in Jerusalem, inscribed with the verses of psalm 67. This distinctive image is incorporated into most shivviti plaques and is often accompanied, as it is here, by the attendant vessels used to hold the oil and trim the wicks. According to Rabbi Isaac Luria (the famous Ari z”l), who initiated the practice of including psalm 67 in the daily liturgy, it is particularly meritorious to focus one’s intentions on the form of the menorah as the text is recited.