Bidspirit auction | (LITURGY). Hebrew Manuscript. Fragment of

(LITURGY). Hebrew Manuscript. Fragment of an Ashkenazi Yom Kippur Piyut. Written in a bold Aschkenazi hand on vellum. Later repurposed for a binding. Central Europe, c. 1450. The text is the Yotzer liturgical poem “E-l Berov Etzoth Tikken eth Ruach” (”With Great Astuteness did God Establish the Spirit.”) This leaf stemmed from what was once an impressive Machzor, later torn apart. This particular leaf was cannibalized for use as the binding for a Polish book.  Individual orphaned leaves stemming from medieval Jewish manuscripts and subsequently recovered from book bindings are collectively known as the “European Genizah.”