Bringing together nearly 60 books, scrolls, and objects from public collections in the Philadelphia area that date from the 11th to the 18th century, Chosen tells the story of human experience, intellectual endeavors, religious tradition, and artistic innovation. These objects were selected for their literary and historic importance and their visual interest. By uniting them in a common space, Chosen reveals the untold stories buried within these objects, as well as those of their producers, owners, and the many different Jewish cultures and other influences that brought them into existence. Visitors can see highly decorated, illustrated scrolls; view writing in a diversity of languages from Chaldean to Yiddish; and learn how the form of Hebrew texts changed with the travels of Jewish populations across geography and time.

Curator: Judith Guston, Curator and Director of Collections, Rosenbach Museum & Library
Consulting Curator: David Stern, Ruth Meltzer Professor of Classical Hebrew, University of Pennsylvania

Some objects you can expect to see in the exhibition include:

the first known illustration depicting a bar mitzvah (18th century)

the oldest nearly complete Passover haggadah in existence (11 th century)

a Torah scroll listing 'the Eleven Commandments'

the oldest Hebrew Bible in North America (1266)

the first Hebrew prayer book written for popular use

the first known illustrations of Passover matzahs in manuscript and printed books

the first book written by a Muslim that was translated into Hebrew

the first printed prayer book printed in Hebrew

one of only six extant books bound in a Portuguese box-binding

the first Protestant translation of the Bible directly from Hebrew into Latin (1534-35)

the first translation of the Hebrew Bible into Spanish (1553)

the first book published in what is now the United States (1640)

the first depiction of a map of the Exodus from Egypt (1695)

the first scientific illustration of a liquid-in-glass thermometer (1628-29)

The following institutions have generously loaned objects to the exhibition:

Center for Advanced Judaic Studies Library, University of Pennsylvania
Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania
Congregation Rodeph Shalom
Temple Judea Museum, Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel
Congregation Mikveh Israel
Bryn Mawr College Library
Haverford College Library, Special Collections
Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department
Free Library of Philadelphia, Education, Philosophy, and Religion Department

Chosen is generously supported by Scott and Karyn Ferber, Richard and Ann Frankel, Miriam Klein, Ronald and Saralee Messinger, Michael Moss and Ellen Chapman, Renée and David Rosenbach Sackey, Murray and Ann Spain, the Maxwell Strawbridge Charitable Trust, and an anonymous donor (list updated as of March 6, 2007). Programs have been funded by the Hirsig Family Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation and the Pennsylvania Humanities Council. We are grateful to the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies Library, University of Pennsylvania; Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania; Congregation Rodeph Shalom; Temple Judea Museum, Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel; Congregation Mikveh Israel; Bryn Mawr College Library; Haverford College Library, Special Collections; The Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department and Education, Philosophy, and Religion Department for loans to the exhibition. We are also grateful to the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania, and to our community partner Temple Beth Zion Beth Israel for their support.

Chosen Catalogue

$25

This catalogue, which accompanies the exhibition of the same name, features full-color illustrations of all objects in the exhibition, plus additional images of many of the objects. Much more than just a keepsake of the temporary exhibition, the publication provides information of lasting value and interest about each of the objects and explains their place in the broader history of books and manuscripts in Hebraic languages over the past millennium. Chosen is written by David Stern, Ruth Meltzer Professor of Classical Hebrew Literature at the University of Pennsylvania, and edited by Judith M. Guston, Curator and Director of Collections at the Rosenbach Museum & Library, with additional contributions by Evelyn Cohen and Emile G.L. Schrijver.

ISBN 978-0-939084-36-4. Approximately 64 pp., with ca. 75 full-color illustrations;
perfect bound with stiff covers. Available today!

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