Hila Manor holds a Bachelor's degree in History and History of Art from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she is currently pursuing a Master's degree in History of Art. Her field of research focuses on late medieval devotional objects used for liturgical purposes. Her thesis deals with the appearance of a Jewish liturgical vessel at the close of the 15th century in Europe and its cultural context, for which she receives the Robert H. and Claris Smith Foundation Scholarship. She currently works as a research assistant and interns at the Wing for Jewish Art and Life of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

Cultural Relations and Material Formations: the Emergence of the Hadas in Fifteenth Century Europe

Hila Manor examines the appearance of the Jewish Hadas (הדס) vessels, used each Saturday as part of the Havdalah (הבדלה) ceremony. These objects, which display architectural representations, were probably first created for Jewish purposes only in the 15^th century, and their form was most likely affected by Christian precious metal artifacts manufactured in this period. Newly discovered materials indicate different sources for the Hadas, which one might label as belonging to the private sphere, used inside domestic spaces for entertainment. This direction poses new questions in respect to the cultural relations between Jews and Christians during the critical time of the Hadas formation; the significance of influence of Christian aristocratic culture on Jewish life at the dawn of the early modern period; the motives which led wealthy Jews to acquire these precious and costly objects; and the process of incorporating them into the formal Jewish liturgy. This project is attempting to address these issues and in turn to shed new light on the episode of the introduction of a new object into the Jewish liturgy and domestic space.