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Kiefer’s Challenge The German artist Anselm Kiefer has once again taken New York by storm. Ensconced at the prestigious Gagosian Gallery, Next Year in Jerusalem, his latest New York show, has met with reviews ranging from the gushing to the grudgingly respectful.  To Roberta Smith,…
Three Faiths at the Public Library People believe different things and when they group together as religions, they pretty much agree that most of what the other groups believes is wrong.  But one thing that unites the big three monotheistic faiths, aside from the ostensible…
Menorahs in Jewish Art Why is the menorah such a powerful and long-lasting symbol of the Jewish people?  After all, its lure ostensibly originates in a relatively minor rabbinic festival, Hanukah.  No disrespect intended, but how can Hanukah compare to the great pilgrimage festivals, Passover,…
John Bradford: Painting the Biblical Narrative John Bradford has devoted the vast majority of his creative life to a visual exploration of the Hebrew Bible.  I have reviewed many of his exhibitions over the last ten years and his dedication to explicating the biblical narrative…
Paintings by Batya F. Kuncman The world is complicated.  Surely it seems that Divine justice is elusive.  God’s role is frequently masked and our human situation is terribly fragile. Yet according to artist Batya F. Kuncman our condition is “most promising.”  Her optimistic artwork is…
A Stitch in Jewish Time: Provocative Textiles Textiles as a Jewish art medium have a long and distinguished history, frequently the sole surviving artifact testifying to a community’s existence and history.  Elaborate paroches from 17th century Italy still proclaim a rich and artistic love of…
Painting and Feminism An exhibit now on view at New York's Jewish Museum purports to chart the course of a cultural revision—specifically, the rise of women artists, or, more specifically, the rise of Jewish women artists, or, more specifically still, the rise in the numbers…
Noah, the Dove and the Raven “Hashem saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth…”  It was as if His Divine patience had run out and as a result His attribute of strict Judgment overtook His attribute of Mercy (Akedias Yitzchak).  God…
Paintings by Richard McBee at the JCC Manhattan God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, Sarah’s only child.  Our forefather gets up early and obeys, not telling Sarah his wife of 47 years.  According to Rashi (Genesis 23:2) when she finds out about this,…
Genre Painting by Brian Shapiro Two Jewish holidays particularly command us to be connected with our vast history.  Most notably the Passover Haggadah demands that we feel as if we too went out of Egypt with the Jewish masses.  Less obvious is Tisha b’Av.
Considering Dura: Part I The dilemma of the Jewish artist is that he or she is often dismissed out of hand as a cultural and halachic impossibility.  And yet a very real history exists to reveal a great many antecedents.  Jews have made Jewish art…
A Mohel’s Siddur by Aryeh ben Judah Leib Imagine you are a mohel and, thank God, business is booming.  It’s a good living and you even have time to sit and learn in between the jobs that seem to crop up at least once a…

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