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Roman Vishniac Rediscovered Two masters of modern photography are on view at the International Center of Photography; Chim (Szymin); aka David Seymour and Roman Vishniac.  They are both Jewish and just happen to bring astute but radically different visions to Jewish photographic subjects. These brilliant,…
Ruth Weisberg Unfurled (2007 catalogue of exhibition at Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA) There is a special class of Jewish artists who toil in the rich fields of Tanach and Jewish practice for years and years, quietly establishing a foundation of visual and intellectual…
Here I Learned to Love Avner Kerem, still from 2011 documentary: Here I Learned to Love, a film by Avi Angel, Distributed by Ruth Diskin Films What is your earliest memory? Itzik Weinberg’s earliest memory may be of him and his younger brother, Avner, fleeing the…
Bezalel’s Legacy: Commentary on Jewish Craft and Art Bezalel, oh Bezalel, what company you keep!  Your parsha, Ki Sisa, takes us from humble devotion to God’s commandments to the utter collapse of Israel’s faith.  God inspired creativity morphs into pernicious communal idolatry that expressed gnawing doubt and…
Bradford’s Borders Revisited John Bradford’s paintings span over 40 years of intensive exploration of the joys of the biblical narrative.  He has explicated its myriad passionate moments from almost every narrative in Genesis, Exodus, Bamidbar to the stories of Tanach such as Ruth and Naomi,…
The Eruv and Jewish Community in New York and Beyond What a wonderful exhibition Yeshiva University Museum has mounted with It’s a Thin Line: The Eruv and Jewish Community in New York and Beyond.  Sensitively curated by Zachary Paul Levine under the watchful and expert…
Sh’ma/Listen: The Art of David Gelernter Shma’ah, 2010-2012, by David Gelernter, courtesy Yeshiva University Museum We must listen and really see the recent works of David Gelernter, artist, author and professor of computer science at Yale University.  His statements in the gallery video are riveting. And…
Visualizing the Bible in a New Light The rather large grasshoppers all have different human faces.  The trees have human bodies with branches sprouting out of their heads. The animals in the Peaceable Kingdom garden seated at Isaiah’s feet are painted purple, pink, blue and…
Silence. There is an overwhelming silence that dominates the Isidor Kaufmann masterpiece, Rabbi with Young Student (catalogue #93) offered for sale at the Sotheby’s December 19th auction.  Kaufmann’s most engaging paintings for me are the deeply psychological portraits, usually of Hasidic men, young women and…
The Eruv in Contemporary Jewish Art For most observant Jews, the eruv is invisible.  Each week we prepare for Shabbos: ready our food, conclude our mundane affairs, shower, dress and put the house keys in our pocket and check the web that the local eruv…

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