New Exhibit Showcases Artistic Depictions of Various Forms of Jewish Study

TABLET MAGAZINE
By Tal Kra-Oz

Photograph from the Nahum Gutman Museum of Art's 'Secular Judaism' Exhibit. (Roee Rosen)

ISRAEL---Gazing out from a large photograph by Israeli artist Roee Rosen are 14 bearded men surrounded by books. That these exaggeratedly hirsute men might be anything other than rabbis is, at first glance, improbable. But a closer look reveals that the men aren’t wearing skullcaps, most of their beards look glued on, and some of their faces seem oddly familiar: Doron Rabina, Yair Garbuz, and Boaz Arad are icons of the Israeli art scene, and Adi Ophir and Moshe Zuckermann are Tel Aviv University professors. They are spiritual leaders, but of a decidedly secular sort. It’s no surprise, then, that this is the photo that greets visitors to Secular Judaism, an exhibit that recently opened at the Nahum Gutman Museum of Art in Tel Aviv’s quaint Neve Tzedek neighborhood. [link]