Bowl for ritual hand washing

This pewter bowl from the JMG Judaica Collection is one of the few items from the Talmud Torah of Thessaloniki that survived its destruction by the Great Fire in 1917. The complex of the Talmud Torah Hagadol included a synagogue, schools and community institutions. According to the Ladino inscription on the bowl, Baruh Nathan Amaragi dedicated it in 5665 (1905) to the Talmud Torah, recently inaugurated at the time. This pouring vessel was most probably used for netilat yadayim, the ritual hand washing.