Rosh Hashanah in LBI Collections | Leo Baeck Institute

Leo Baeck Institute is closed on September July 17 and Tuesday September 18 in observance of Rosh Hashanah. The staff at LBI wishes “Shana Tova” to all and presents this slideshow of materials from LBI collections that reflect the changing circumstances under which German-speaking Jewish communities have celebrated Rosh Hashanah over centuries, and the many traditions that remain constant.

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From the Childhood Diary of Helen Hesse "Rosh Hashanah 5699 - We are Emigrating"

Wilhelm and Ruth Hesse of Hamburg kept detailed diaries documenting the childhood years of their daughters Helen (b. 1933) and Eva (b. 1936). The girls were sent to Holland in 1938. Their parents joined them the next year and the entire family emigrated to New York, where Eva became a celebrated visual artist.

Design for a Machzor - Morning Service for Rosh Hashanah

The illustrator Hugo-Steiner-Prag was commissioned in 1936 by the Czech industrialist Jírí Waldes to design a Machzor (prayer book) to be printed in the Czech language. By 1937, Steiner-Prag had completed the drawings but the threat of Nazi occupation had become too acute to contemplate the publication. Mr. Waldes returned the sketches to Steiner-Prag, who took them with him into exile in New York. This plate features a star of David surrounded by plants, two crowns and surmounted by seven stars. The Hebrew text is from the morning service of Rosh Hashanah, "And thus all shall crown thee, proclaiming thee their sovereign."

Picart, Bernard, (1673-1733) Plate V: Top: New Year's Sounding of the Horn among German Jews, 1723

Bernard Picart, a French designer and engraver, created some of the earliest engravings on Jewish ecclesiastical and ceremonial subjects, such as this image of Jewish men in the temple on Rosh Hashanah as the Shofar is sounded.

Synagogue announcement from Frankfurt am Main regarding the coming high holiday service

Happy New Year from the Beith Ahawah Orphanage

Beate Berger, a nurse, founded the Beith Ahawah ("House of Love") orphanage in the former Jewish Hospital at Auguststrasse 14-16 in Berlin in 1922. By the early 1930's, the orphanage cared for over 100 children, mostly from Eastern Europe. After 1933, Berger worked to move the entire orphanage to Palestine, where it still exists today. LBI has about 185 photographs from the Beith Ahawah orphanage in its digital collections.

Hajom Haras Olam, sung by Chief Cantor of Hamburg, Josef Rosenblatt (78 rpm record, 1920's)

Chief Cantor Josef (Yossele) Rosenblatt of Hamburg (1882-1933) sings the Hayom Harat Olam, which is sometimes translated as "Today is the birthday of the world; Today the world is born.” Click the image to listen to the recording

Cantor's Manual - Abendgottesdienst für das Neujahrs und Versöhnungsfest, Karlsruhe 1876

The Metzger Music Collection at LBI includes several handwritten cantor's manuals used by the Jewish Community of Karlsruhe. This manual for the evening services of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur was created in 1876.