Shavuot Prayers - Roman Jewish Community 1450

In pairs, use the worksheet to analyze the historical resource from the medieval Roman machzor.

• Do you think every person in the community had an illustrated machzor like this one?
• What can be learned about the Jewish community of Rome from this historical source?

Imagine how Jews in the Roman community felt when they prayed using this machzor. How do you think the illustrations affected their feelings about the prayers?

• If you were illustrating a machzor for Shavuot, what aspects of the festival would you choose to illustrate?
• Choose a text read on Shavuot or a text that describes an aspect or custom related to this festival. Consider its message and the feelings that you would like the person reading it to experience. Draw an illustration to accompany the text.