Welcome to Yaakov Davidoff Press Page

Art & Judaica Magazine

September — December 1997, #38

• Items for the Marrano Home — Disguised Religious Items

• Cutlery Collection

• Mezzuza Casings

• Tzedaka (Charity) Boxes

• Mayim Acharonim — After meal hand washing

• Shabbat Collection

• Havdala Collection

• Kiddush Collection — Goblets for Shabbat and Festivals

• Rosh HaShana Collection

• Succot Collection

• Hanukka Collection

• Purim Collection

• Passover Collection

• Sefirat Ha'Omer — Counting the Omer

• Torah Collection — Crowns & Pointers

• Chevah Brachot

• Custom

Natural talent, enhanced by boundless confidence, balanced with sober, unremitting self-criticism and you have a combination that can produce impressive work. Add an amazing capacity for originality and the results are often quite brilliant. In a nutshell this describes Jerusalem artistic silversmith Yaakov Davidoff.
In a city with dozens of fine silversmiths making original Judaica, Yaakov Davidoff stands out for a number of reasons. Firstly, a great number studied at the famous Bezalel Art Academy. Furthermore, quite a few were born into families making Judaica, some for generations. Davidoff has none of these advantages. At vocational school he studied electrical work. After his army service he learned to do welding. He was better than average at both occupations, but somehow he felt that neither would be his lifelong vocation. Restless, he enrolled at a course for silversmithing, and it was as though he had been working with silver all his life. Right from the beginning of the course, the instructors were convinced that he he had in fact worked as a silversmith.
Now, almost decade after finishing that course, and following a brief apprenticeship with a number of Jerusalem's ranking silversmiths, Yaakov Davidoff is drawing gasps of wonder from all who see his work, mainly because of the revolutionary ideas expressed in his designs, and the excellent craftsmanship.
A number of his items are inspired by the Marranos - Jews who during the Spanish Inquisition pretended to be Christians while maintaining their Jewish faith. Sabbath candlesticks and other ritual items were made in such a way as to conceal their real function. For instance, Davidoff made a model of a piano. Beautifully designed and made out of sterling silver, it can be taken apart to reveal an astonishing number of ritual items. Indeed, the tiny objet d'art contains almost all the items and vessels that a Jew needs for the whole year. Deftly designed and assembled, a pair of Sabbath candlesticks suddenly emerge from the piano's legs; the keyboard opens up to reveal a Hanukkiya; also hidden but emerging easily area dreidl, Havdsllah set, Kidush cup and even a charity box. Furthermore, the piano incorporates beautiful engravings of the Seven Species of the Fruits as well as the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
Similarly, another item that follows the Marrano traditions is a replica of an old-fashioned telephone. Like the piano, the craftsmanship is excellent. It is also full of delightful surprises - the earphone becomes a Kiddush cup; the stem becomes two candlesticks; the mouthpiece becomes a havdallah set; the base with its rotary dial becomes a Hanukka Menora.
Continue dismantling the object and all sorts of additional ritual items emerge. Ech one flawlessly made out of sterling silver. Someone quipped that this telephone is almost a direct line to heaven.
Davidov's "Seven Days of Creation" kidush cup is yet another brilliantly designed piece of Judaica. The top part has seven panels with sculptures depicting the seven days of Creation. The stem consists of a globe embossed with the continents, with Jerusalem marked by a tiny diamond. The Kiddush cup is made out of sterling silver and gold. A truly magnificent variation is made completely out of 21 karat gold.
Davidoff has designed a number of "Apple and Honey Sets" for celebrating the New Year, with innovative methods of spooning out the honey. Like all his unique items, these sets are replete with engravings of symbolistic motifs. The family name of the client can also be engraved on the base.
During the last decade Yaakov Davidoff has made scores of Judaica items, each available in very limited editions, and each invariably an example of exceptional craftsmanship and design. His range of ideas is all-embracing. Silver and gold are not the only materials he uses. Witness, for example a Kiddush cup that incorporates mainly coconut; a Torah pointer is made out of bone and coconut.
His piano set mentioned earlier in the article indicates that he is also a master of miniature modeling. Yet he sometimes goes the other extreme and creates larger then life items. An example is a 150 cm. Hanukkiah made out of silver and gold-plating. A Megillat Esther is framed on a large wooden frame.
Despite having created a large range of items, reaching the highest standards of professionalism that would be suggestive of a lengthy career, Yaakov Davidoff is still a young man, with wellsprings of untapped creativity promising the continuation and even evolvement of ever greater things.

By Murray Spake "Art & Judaica Magazine"1997