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.

A Song Of The Sea With A Hint Of Ladino And Arabic Towards A New Perspective On Passover

Posted on: April 20th, 2005

With Pesach swiftly approaching, many are hyper-aware of all the cleaning and cooking implied in the festival.

Fleeting Prayer Manhattan Mincha Map

Posted on: April 13th, 2005

Mincha is the most fragile of prayers. It is typically caught on the run, sandwiched between a hurried lunch and return to the ordeals of the workday.

Self Portrait Of The Artist As A Jew, With A Los Angeles Dodgers Cap. Kitaj At The Marlborough Gallery

Posted on: April 6th, 2005

There is something very Jewish about R. B. Kitaj's work.

Wandering In Paint, Wondering In Paint. Bamidbar At The Mercer Gallery

Posted on: March 23rd, 2005

Many mistranslate the word "midbar" as desert, whereas the word really carries more of a connotation for wasteland or wilderness, perhaps deriving from the root dever for "plague" or davar for "word" or "thing."

Lost Objects Found

Posted on: March 16th, 2005

As one enters the theater, the stage is seen dominated by three levels of scaffolding that fills the entire proscenium behind a gray scrim.

Dusty Jewish Songs: Reggae, Beatboxing and Hasidism

Posted on: March 9th, 2005

The new face of Jewish pop music wears a black hat and jacket and a long beard.

Shalom Y’All: The Southern Jewish Experience

Posted on: March 2nd, 2005

Imagining the tempting aroma of pecan pie and fresh challah, the age-old rhythms of Southern Jewry unfold before our eyes in the seductively handsome exhibition of photographs, Shalom Y'all, currently at the Jewish Museum of Florida in Miami Beach.

Making And Breaking Monsters: The Image In Early Exorcism And Propaganda

Posted on: February 23rd, 2005

Though first published in 1967, Marshall McLuhan's "The Medium is the Message: an Inventory of Effects" still remains the sourcebook on new media; its 160 pages of provocative text captivate the reader and prophetically forecasted the dominant role new media currently assumes.

Rembrandt Etchings

Posted on: February 16th, 2005

Walking out of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial in Washington, D.C. the stench of mass murder was overpowering.

Kabbalica: Aviva Yunger To Show At The Bergen County Y

Posted on: February 9th, 2005

The first question a viewer ought to pose regarding any work of art that includes text is: if we strip you of your text, are you significantly changed?

Repossessing Faith: Objects Of The Spirit. By Toby Kahn

Posted on: February 2nd, 2005

Imagine ritual without symbol. Impossible. The very heart and soul of Jewish ritual, from prayer to matzah, is the symbolic evocation of something else.

A Local, Baltimore Angle On Some Of The Hardships Of Holocaust Refugees

Posted on: January 26th, 2005

The Jewish Museum of Maryland's "Lives Lost" exhibit offers a meditation on a "dramatic but little known story" - according to the museum Associate Director Anita Kassof.

‘Kish D’Meziza’ Upon Thy Doorposts by Belle Rosenbaum

Posted on: January 19th, 2005

The words reverberate with sweet memories. "Kiss the mezuzah," a grandparent urges his grandchild, while a parent nods approvingly as a rebbe teaches about the proper behavior upon entering or leaving a room ... "and don't forget to kiss the mezuzah!"

Rand’s Prayer – The Nineteen Diaspora Painting

Posted on: January 5th, 2005

Why should we bother with art? A waste of time, bitul Torah, perhaps even a lure into apikoresviewing art, not to mention making it, could be viewed as a can of worms best left unopened.

Following Zeh Yellow Brich Road: Journeying Jewishly Bezalel Alumni At The Makor Gallery

Posted on: December 29th, 2004

Sitting stiffly on the very throne from which Pharaoh would later deny G-d and His children's freedom, Joseph surveyed his brothers bowing before him.

Art As Optimism And Therapy – Friedl Dicker-Brandeis At The Jewish Museum

Posted on: December 22nd, 2004

Oftentimes, one will find it far more useful to engage a piece of art in terms of what issues it raises and what questions it asks, rather than what ideological statements it offers or answers it proposes.

Out-Knitting Bubby: Weaving Jewishly Anni Albers At The Cooper-Hewitt

Posted on: December 15th, 2004

The ancient Greek poets wrote myths about the Fates - the three daughters of Nyx, the powerful goddess Night. They are also called the Moerae sisters.