![A shiviti, Denmark](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/A_shiviti%2C_Denmark.jpg)
A shiviti or shivisi ( he, שויתי) is a meditative representation of a verse from
Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...
. It is crowned at the top by
the sacred name of God, followed by the rest of the passage set in the shape of the
Temple lampstand. It is used in
Kabbalah
Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...
for contemplation of the
Tetragrammaton
The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew language, Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', ''he (l ...
. One type of ''shiviti'' is placed at the front of the synagogue, where it may also serve as a type of
mizrah
''Mizrah'' ( he, ''mīzrāḥ'') is the Hebrew word for "east" and the direction that Jews in the Diaspora west of Israel face during prayer. Practically speaking, Jews would face the city of Jerusalem when praying, and those north, east, or ...
; another popular format, designed for personal use, fits inside a prayerbook.
Shivitis originated in the 17th-century
Sabbatean
The Sabbateans (or Sabbatians) were a variety of Jewish followers, disciples, and believers in Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676),
a Sephardic Jewish rabbi and Kabbalist who was proclaimed to be the Jewish Messiah in 1666 by Nathan of Gaza.
Vast ...
movement and were condemned by the mainstream rabbinate, especially by prominent anti-Sabbateans like
Jacob Joshua Falk
Jacob Joshua Falk ( he, יעקב יהושע פלק) (also Yaakov Yehoshua ben Tzvi Hirsch, or Yaakov Yehoshua Falk — see Note on the name "Joshua Falk") 1680 – January 16, 1756) was a Polish and German rabbi and Talmudist, known as the Pnei ...
. Even in the nineteenth century, when the Sabbatean movement had died out, most authorities banned the use of shivitis because they were seen as disrespectful to the
name of God
There are various names of God, many of which enumerate the various qualities of a Supreme Being. The English word ''god'' (and its equivalent in other languages) is used by multiple religions as a noun to refer to different deities, or speci ...
. Today, shivitis are mostly seen in
Hasidic
Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...
synagogues.
Etymology
Shiviti is the first word in the Hebrew text of meaning "I have placed".
History
Shimon Hasida (3rd century) explained that Psalms 16:8 urges one to pray with consciousness of God.
Moses Isserles
). He is not to be confused with Meir Abulafia, known as "Ramah" ( he, רמ״ה, italic=no, links=no), nor with Menahem Azariah da Fano, known as "Rema MiPano" ( he, רמ״ע מפאנו, italic=no, links=no).
Rabbi Moses Isserles ( he, משה ...
(d.1572) expanded,
"I have set the Lord before me constantly"; this is a major principle in the Torah and amongst the virtues of the righteous who walk before God. For a person's way of sitting, his movements and his dealings while he is alone in his house are not like his way of sitting, his movements and his dealings when he is before a great king; nor are his speech and free expression as much as he wants when he is with his household members and his relatives like his speech when in a royal audience.
Hayyim Vital
Hayyim ben Joseph Vital ( he, רָבִּי חַיִּים בֶּן יוֹסֵף וִיטָאל; Safed, October 23, 1542 (Julian calendar) and October 11, 1542 (Gregorian Calendar) – Damascus, 23 April 1620) was a rabbi in Safed and the foremo ...
(d.1620) added, citing
Isaac Luria
Isaac ben Solomon Luria Ashkenazi (1534Fine 2003, p24/ref> – July 25, 1572) ( he, יִצְחָק בן שלמה לוּרְיָא אשכנזי ''Yitzhak Ben Sh'lomo Lurya Ashkenazi''), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as "Ha'ARI" (mean ...
(d.1572),
There is also a sign to remind man of his sin: He traces the tetragrammaton in his imagination in ktav ashuri
Ktav Ashuri ( he, כְּתָב אַשּׁוּרִי, ' "Assyrian script"; also Ashurit) is the traditional Hebrew language name of the Hebrew alphabet, used to write both Hebrew and Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. It is also sometimes called the "s ...
. For this is the secret of "I have set the Lord before me constantly". And when he traces it, if he has sinned in a way which relates to one of the letters, he will not be able to trace it, and by this will know that he has sinned.
Yechiel Michel b. Avraham Epstein Ashkenazi, a popular
Sabbatean
The Sabbateans (or Sabbatians) were a variety of Jewish followers, disciples, and believers in Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676),
a Sephardic Jewish rabbi and Kabbalist who was proclaimed to be the Jewish Messiah in 1666 by Nathan of Gaza.
Vast ...
halakhist, was the first to record a practice of physically writing the name, in 1692:
The Qabbalistic masters write in their books that one can purify the mind by constantly tracing the tetragrammaton in their mind, as if it was written in black ink upon white paper . . . There are many who write the tetragrammaton upon parchment with the vowels of ''yir'ah'' (fear) and place it before them when praying, following the instruction to "set the Lord before me constantly". And this brings a man's heart to fear God, and it earns him a pure soul.
Jacob Joshua Falk
Jacob Joshua Falk ( he, יעקב יהושע פלק) (also Yaakov Yehoshua ben Tzvi Hirsch, or Yaakov Yehoshua Falk — see Note on the name "Joshua Falk") 1680 – January 16, 1756) was a Polish and German rabbi and Talmudist, known as the Pnei ...
, an anti-Sabbatean crusader, condemned the practice in 1739:
There are those who nowadays write some verses on a small parchment, such as "I have set the Lord before me always" or "A fire must be kept burning" (Lev. 6:6) or "The Lord will be merciful" (Psalms 67:2), drawn in the shape of a menorah. I do not know what it signifies and this practice is closer to being forbidden than being permitted . . . there is an absolute prohibition.
In 1820
Hayyim Mordecai Margolioth described congregants with private shivitis:
About the common practice wherein they draw menorahs on parchment to place them in prayerbooks, and write in them "I have set the Lord before me always", and the tetragrammaton and names of God
There are various names of God, many of which enumerate the various qualities of a Supreme Being. The English word ''god'' (and its equivalent in other languages) is used by multiple religions as a noun to refer to different deities, or speci ...
and the menorah . . . and the reason is to remind them not to talk during prayer due to terror of the tetragrammaton being right in front of them.
Judah Idel Scherschewsky recorded synagogue use in 1861:
The congregations' practice is to place a wood or parchment or paper or bronze plaque before the ark, in front of the cantor, and to write on it "I have set the Lord before me always" . . . The artisans add more verses and quotations to this, around the verse and above it and to its side, and different decorations, including lions, leopards, stags, eagles, and doves . . .
Both synagogue and personal use were common by the end of the nineteenth century. Orthodox rabbinic authorities were greatly displeased by the propagation of these shivitis, which they complained were not treated with the respect the tetragrammaton deserved.
Yisrael Meir Kagan
Rabbi Yisrael Meir ha-Kohen Kagan (January 26, 1838 – September 15, 1933), known popularly as the Chofetz Chaim, after his book on lashon hara, who was also well known for the Mishna Berurah, his book on ritual law, was an influential Lithuan ...
allowed only the synagogue shiviti, and then only if it was kept under glass and away from candles.
Other forms
Begun in the 18th and 19th centuries, this turned into a whole branch of
Judaic art. Today, a Jewish artists produce various modern forms of Shiviti, sometimes merging the old Kabbalistic traditions with
New Age
New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...
and
Far East
The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.
The ter ...
ern motifs.
See ''
mizrach
''Mizrah'' ( he, ''mīzrāḥ'') is the Hebrew word for "east" and the direction that Jews in the Diaspora west of Israel face during Jewish prayer, prayer. Practically speaking, Jews would face the city of Jerusalem when praying, and those ...
'' article for double-purpose items, the ''mizrach-shiviti'', sometimes in the shape of artistic
papercuts, with highly elaborate examples from the 19th to early 20th century in the collection of the
Jewish Museum of New York.
Mizrah/Shiviti
Jewish Museum, New York. Accessed 3 Dec 2021.
See also
* Judaica (Judaic art)
*Religious image
A religious image is a work of visual art that is representational and has a religious purpose, subject or connection. All major historical religions have made some use of religious images, although their use is strictly controlled and often cont ...
References
{{reflist
External links
19th century Shiviti
at the Yale University Library
The Yale University Library is the library system of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Originating in 1701 with the gift of several dozen books to a new "Collegiate School," the library's collection now contains approximately 14.9 milli ...
Jewish ritual objects
Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish prayers and blessings