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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…
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…
Masterpieces from the Bodleian Library “King Girded With Might,” Tripartite Mahzor, 14th century, courtesy Bodleian Library & Jewish Museum In the eyes of the ram lies the artist’s commentary on the Rosh HaShanah piyyut; “The King Girded with Strength.” From the Tripartite Mahzor (German 14th century),…
Jacqueline Nicholls: New Works Jacqueline Nicholls, a Jewish artist from England, presents us with a formidable challenge.  Namely; what is the role of a contemporary Jewish Woman artist and how does one confront patriarchal dominance? She presents her response to both queries in her current…
Forever Young, Forever Old: Panoramas of Israel Photographs seems like cruel little slices from the past, frozen images of what will never be again.  Since we assume that the photographic image is, by and large, a factual view of some reality, it is inherently believed…
Rylands Haggadah: Medieval Jewish Art in Context The Rylands Haggadah, created in Catalonia Spain sometime around 1330, is a towering masterpiece of Jewish Art.  In addition to pages of piyutim surrounded by ornate decorative and figurative micrography, richly decorated Haggadah text and blessings, there is…
Bartolo’s Sacred Narrative The Museum of Biblical Art in New York has mounted a remarkable exhibition with Bartolo di Fredi’s 14th century masterpiece, Adoration of the Magi.  This small but powerful exhibition, but one of many in the 7-year history of MOBIA, is an exploration…
Zaslavsky’s Jews Jewish artists do the darndest things. The Chassidic Art Institute, expertly directed by Zev Markowitz, is currently showing Venyamin Zaslavsky, a Ukrainian Jewish artist who has devoted the last 20 years to depictions of pious Jewish life in Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
Ludwig Blum’s Israel Ludwig Blum (1891-1974) was a deeply complex artist who walked the fine line between pure aesthetics and a radical artistic view of the Zionist enterprise. He clearly loved to paint, make beautiful images and provide aesthetic pleasure.  As a committed Zionist and…
Paintings from Midrash by Brian Shapiro The midrashic world is a dangerous place to inhabit.  It plays fast and loose with our sacred texts to fathom their deeper meanings, solve vexing textual and conceptual problems and, finally, make sense of the holy words in contemporary…

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