Sjnoder, the Anatomy of Tzedakah by Billha Zussman

Zussman’s short animation film “Sjnoder, the Anatomy of Tzedakah” is inspired by the Sjnoderbooks collection of the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam.

In The Netherlands donations that were pledged on Shabbat were recorded by threading a piece of string through a ledger with holes. The word Sjnoder is derived from the Hebrew “mi shenadar” (he who promised)

The story “Anatomy of Tzedakah” depicts the life of a Sjnoderbook, transformed into a magic, self- consuming hand disguised as a glove, representing the Rambams’ Eight Levels of Tzedakah. The selfless, self-devouring, self-regenerating hand, the magic hand that reaches its heart and disappears.

The film was recently screened at the Jerusalem Biennale for Contemporary Jewish Art.