Subject: Circumcision

Manuscript book containing 36 records of circumcisions performed by a mohel (ritual circumciser). Written in Ashkenazic Hebrew with names, places, and family names in English. The majority of the circumcisions were performed in New Orleans, Louisiana, beginning in 1836, with the last entry in New York City in 1850. This represents the most important extant Southern Jewish record of circumcisions from this early period. Early American mohel records are rare and are typically only found in institutional archives. This book predates the founding of the first synagogue in New Orleans (1827), and there is no evidence the first hazzan, Manis Jacobs, who served until 1839, also performed circumcisions.

Pamphlet titled "A VEIW OF ABRAHAM'S COVENANT AND OF CIRCUMCISION, AND THE; CHURCH UNDER LAW AND THE CHURCH UNDER GOSPEL." Published in 1803. Geographic location is not specified in the source material.

Book - "An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce, Wrecked on the Western Coast of Africa, in the Month of August, 1815. With an Account of the Sufferings Of Her Surviving Officers and Crew, Who Were Enslaved By the Wandering Arabs"....One of the earliest (if not the earliest) known copper engraving of a circumcism in a popular American book. Also as Riley is a slave he is last in the pecking order...1) Blacks 2) Jews...as artsians 3) Christains This edition is not found in OCLC...it may well be the 1st edition. "Hartford; Published by the Author.... James Riley was one of the most celebrated, skillful, and ill-starred American seaman of the 19th century. Riley (1777-1840) survived shipwreck and enslavement by the Arabs in Morocco in 1815, and in 1817 published this account of his and his shipmates' ordeal that went through many editions and became one of the most popular books of the 19th century. Abraham Lincoln called it one of his half dozen favorite books, and he was surely influenced by the book's description of white Americans enslaved and humiliated by black Moors, as well as by Riley's salute to the charity and benevolence of a Muslim.This is a one of the most famous accounts of shipwreck, slavery, and rescue in all of American history! It had been re-published throughout the 19th Century....

Coin silver circumcision shield with a decorative design and the name "E. Rosengarten" on one side. The reverse side bears the Hebrew date "5619" (1859/60). A rare example of a mid-19th-century Jewish-American ritual object. Exhibited in "Tolerance and Identity: Jews in Early New York 1654-1825" at the Museum of the City of New York (May-December 2005), curated by Dr. Debra Waters. Also displayed at the opening of the Museum of American Jewish Heritage in Philadelphia (2010-2011) and in a Jewish history exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York (May-December 2005).

A letter written by David Lobo in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, to Isaac Leeser on December 30, 1847. Lobo details the circumcision of Benjamin Franklin Hendriques, son of Elias, mentioning the mohel (M.L. Ricardo), godparents, and other attendees. He also lists books he wishes to acquire.

A 2 1/2 page stampless letter dated April 12, 1854, from Moses Angel, Head Master of the Jewish Free School in London, to Isaac Leeser in Philadelphia. Angel inquires whether Leeser can provide a certificate of circumcision for Isaac John Crawcour, born January 9, 1835, and circumcised February 8, 1835, in Philadelphia.

Manuscript containing 63 inscriptions of circumcisions performed in Albany and Kingston, Ulster County, New York. Written in Hebrew and some English. The book includes a signed endpaper in German and Yiddish indicating ownership by David b. Segal (Loewy) of Bierstadt (Vinograd, Amsterdam 1585). Rabbi Segal emigrated to the USA in the mid-1800s and performed circumcisions in Albany and Kingston. The manuscript dates to around 1843.

This volume contains a printed book and an appended manuscript. The printed book, *Sepher Berith Yitzchak*, edited by Selomoh Levy Maduro, is a prayer book for circumcision ceremonies according to the Sephardic rite. Published in Amsterdam by I. Mondovi for G.J. Jansson in 1768, it includes woodcut illustrations, dedications, and lists of qualified mohelim (circumcisers) across the Spanish and Portuguese communities of Europe and the Americas. Notably, it details ceremonies for the circumcision of slaves, mamzerim (bastards), Marranos, and converts. The appended manuscript, written in Hebrew by Salomon Seruya of Lisbon in 1839, is a handwritten Brith Milah manual comprising two parts: *Hanhagot HaMohel* and a piyut for circumcision ("Ezrahi Haya Yahid Ben Le-umim"). The Seruya family were long-term residents of Gibraltar.

This trade card is designed to be a reminder of the importance of circumcision in Jewish culture. The image, unfortunately, is not clear, but it is a printed card. The design is simple, featuring a text block surrounded by borders. The card appears to have a brief message of Jewish traditions and practices, but details of the text are lost. The back of the card is blank.

This trade card advertises the services of Rev. Joseph Schwed. The card, printed in German, Hebrew, and English, lists the Rabbi's address as 400 E. 52nd Street, New York. The card also lists his services as performing circumcisions, marriages, and delivering sermons in German and English. Additionally, he offers private lessons in Hebrew, German, English, and French.