What If Abraham Sacrificed Isaac Anyway?

Posted on: April 19th, 2006

Behold! It came to pass, after those things occurred, that Abraham was tested.

Beerman’s Plagues

Posted on: April 5th, 2006

Why was it necessary for us to be taken out of Egypt?

Soda Bottle Sandals And Post-Library Shelving

Posted on: March 29th, 2006

A poor child's feet parade crude sandals, straps affixed to soda bottles with the caps still intact.

A Literary Review: The History Of A Myth – The Artless Jew, By Kalman P. Bland

Posted on: March 22nd, 2006

While some ideas are foolish but harmless, others are not only incorrect but also corrosively destructive.

People Of The Book, People Of The Text: The Harry G. Friedman Society And Jewish Books

Posted on: March 15th, 2006

Brad Sabin Hill was sitting in the Oriental Reading Room at the British Library.

The Power Of Paint: Paintings By Motke Blum

Posted on: March 8th, 2006

Vacillating wildly from slashing abstraction, moody evocations of Jerusalem to complex meditations on the Shoah, Motke Blum presents a conundrum.

Visualizing Jewish Hair: Samson And The Sotah

Posted on: March 1st, 2006

Hair in Judaism carries multiple connotations. It is distracting and narcissistic, as when Joseph "plays with his hair" too much and finds his jail sentence under Potifar extended for his vanity.

The Passion Of Leah Ashkenazy

Posted on: February 22nd, 2006

"There is just something about that little girl that I can't get out of my mind. How does she face those fire-breathing beasts?"

Zionist Art Nouveau: Ideal Or Idealistic?

Posted on: February 15th, 2006

It's just about the last thing you'd suspect of relevance and contribution to anything culturally meaningful.

Terna’s Touch

Posted on: February 8th, 2006

Frederick Terna has a soft touch. His images are neither strident nor angry.

Chava Roth’s Meanings

Posted on: January 25th, 2006

Pleasure and Meaning. In the visual arts they are equally essential.

Accepting A Fateless Fate: A Holocaust Film To End All Holocaust Films

Posted on: January 18th, 2006

One of Honore Daumier's greatest works shows a troubled man sitting at a window.

Ozeri’s Bukharan Conversation

Posted on: January 11th, 2006

Look someone in the eye, and you immediately begin a narrative.

Pastrami And Dodgers Flavored Chazzanut: Jackie Mendelson’s Cantorial Tale

Posted on: January 4th, 2006

If the hills are alive with the sound of Julie Andrews' music, then Cantor Jacob "Jackie" Mendelson would have viewers believe that Brooklyn is once again to be alive with the sound of Chazzanut.

Eisenberg’s Space

Posted on: December 28th, 2005

Space is created in the visual arts in a multitude of ways. Illusionistic space was invented in the Renaissance and continues to be depicted in contemporary realism.

Jewish Space: Inside The Ark; And The Diary Of Anne Frank

Posted on: December 21st, 2005

The Temple gleams upon the horizon, a golden beacon signifying the finish line to the Jews' trek to serve G-d on the shalosh regalim.

The Siddur As Coloring Book – Archie Rand’s ‘The Eighteen’ At The Jewish Museum Of Maryland

Posted on: May 18th, 2005

The aesthetic buzzards have been following him disappointed for years.

Divine Silence

Posted on: May 11th, 2005

The problem with G-d is His holiness.

Between Man And G-d And Art: Installing Jewishly Merav Ezer’s Plastic Arts

Posted on: May 4th, 2005

In a sense, the history of the Jewish people is a history of installation art. The thunder and lightning, booming shofar and floral assortment at Sinai were intense aesthetic experiences.

Confronting Catastrophe: Pray Or Fight Carvalho’s Rephidim

Posted on: April 27th, 2005

Barely redeemed from Egypt, the Jewish people faced a terrible foe. Amalek attacked without warning, without reason.