Mizrah - מִזְרָח‎

The word Mizrah

• is the Hebrew word for East
• denotes the rising of the sun as in the verse of Psalms/Tehillim 113:3 "From the rising (mi-mizrah) of the sun until its setting, the name of the Lord is praised" (מִמִּזְרַח-שֶׁמֶשׁ עַד מְבוֹאוֹ מְהֻלָּל, שֵׁם יְהוָה).
• the acronym for the phrase מצד זה רוח חיים (From this direction comes the spirit of life)

It is used as a an ornamental picture hung on the eastern wall of the house, the east walls of synagogues in Israel and abroad, or in front of the reading desk in the synagogue. IIn the synagogue, it is mostly composed of the word Mizrah, often together with the above cited Psalms/Tehillim 113:3 and the phrase מצד זה רוח חיים. Many other passages, and even whole psalms, are often added. In the house, it is mainly artistically embellished. All kind of materials are used such as copper plates and marble, but paper - in the form of prints, illustrations or papercuts - is the most widely adopted medium for pieces of arts and crafts in the house.

It denotes the direction of prayer, which is east for the Diaspora living west of Israel. But because Mizrah not only denotes the word for  "East" but also the acronym for the verse depicting the direction for the spirit of life, a Mizrah generally indicates the direction towards Jerusalem, to be faced during prayer. The Mizrah expresses the Jewish longing for Jerusalem, both as a real city and as a transcendent idea. 

This is my very first linocut, based on and inspired by an eastern European papercut by Moshe Ben Aaron from 1875:

My black and white version:

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Whilst living in the South of Chile (in Temuco, the capital of the Araucanía region), I created this Mizrah depicting to characteristics but endangered trees of the Southern Andes region: the Araucaria (to the right) and the Alerce (to the left).

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The centre of the stamp depicts the Western Wall with five cypresses on top and flanked by scenes from Jerusalem. The Hebrew inscription immediately above the cypresses reads שומרי החומות בית הסופר והמאיר (The guardians of the walls. The writer's house and the illuminator). The inscription immediately below the Western Wall reads כותל המרבי (The Western Wall). The circular Hebrew inscription reads "Seal of Austria, Hungary, Moravia, Bohemia in Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias" and the German inscription reads "Seal of the Hungarian Moravian Bohemian and Austrian Israelite Congregation in Jerusalem".

Outside the seal is the verse of Psalms/Tehillim 113:3 "From the rising of the sun until its setting, the name of the Lord is praised" (מִמִּזְרַח-שֶׁמֶשׁ עַד מְבוֹאוֹ מְהֻלָּל, שֵׁם יְהוָה) and the Hebrew letters for Mizrah: מזרח.