Sotheby's Auctions: Important Judaica, Featuring The Serque Collection

SOTHEBY'S

An elaborately illustrated Kettabuh, from Corfu, 1790 (Estimated $50,000 - $70,000) 

Sotheby’s is pleased to announce the 5 June sale of Important Judaica, Featuring The Serque Collection in New York. Sotheby’s Judaica Department offers Hebrew manuscripts and books, silver, ritual objects and fine arts, including paintings and graphics. Hebrew books and manuscripts generally date from the 15th century to the beginning of the 19th century. Objects for personal ritual and synagogue use, mainly in silver, are also offered in these sales, along with items created at the Bezalel Academy of Arts in Jerusalem. Fine art offerings include works by leading Jewish artists such as Isidor Kaufmann, Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, Edouard Brandon, Maurycy Gottlieb, Solomon Alexander Hart, Marc Chagall, and others from the 19th and 20th centuries. [More]

Pop Art Rabbi's take on Pittsburgh shootings

THE JEWISH NEWS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
BY Sue Fishkoff

Yitzchok Moully's "Tree of Life, Pittsburgh, PA" (2018)

Check out the stunning, evocative art on the cover of this week’s Hanukkah issue of J. The Jewish News of Northern California by Yitzchok Moully. It combines imagery that evokes the Hanukkah menorah, the 11 lives lost in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and the Tree of Life that is the synagogue’s namesake. Dubbed the Pop Art Rabbi, he worked as a youth rabbi at a Chabad center in New Jersey for 10 years before embarking on his artistic career. He created the painting used on our cover two days after the Pittsburgh shootings at the Tree of Life synagogue, “where eleven souls were killed just for being Jewish and coming to synagogue to pray,” he writes on his website. [More]

Detour Gallery and the Jewish Art Salon present "The Invisible Jew"

JEWISH ART SALON

In religious circles, Tamar is seen as a hero, who takes matters into her own hands and by will alone, inherits the holy birthright. In secular terms, she is seen as tragic figure for having to sleep with her father-in-law. It is this dichotomy I am exploring. – Joel Silverstein.

RED BANK, NJ---Detour Gallery and the Jewish Art Salon present The Invisible Jew: the lack of representation of women in orthodox media, the circumstances that allowed it, its consequences, and related issues. This exhibition deals with the systematic bias that has created the invisible women of Orthodox Judaism. 38 Artists from the US, Europe and Israel are expressing their insight on this subject in a powerful, persuasive show, that will help bring female imagery to the front lines of Orthodox Judaism. The exhibition addresses seven related themes: Erasure, The women's section/ separation, empowerment, mikveh/ impurity, purity, identify and inequality. [More]

“What We Carry,” opening at Detroit's Janice Charach Gallery

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
By Suzanne Chessler

Diaspora by Carol Neiger

DETROIT---In 2015, 12 Jewish artists were chosen by Chicago’s Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership to participate in the Midwest Jewish Artists Lab. The year-long residency allowed the artists access to Spertus’ archives of art, artifacts and massive library, where they studied treasured text together with local scholars and were provided professional critiques, culminating in a group exhibit at Spertus called “Wisdom.” Although the artists were chosen independent of each other, they bonded over the experience and formed the Jewish Artists Collective Chicago (JACC), apart from Spertus. “What We Carry” at charachgallery.org continues through July 12. [More]

Who stole the Samaritan's Torahs? Writer explores the hunt to bring them back

NPR
By Daniel Estrin

A priest lifts a Samaritan Torah scroll during sunrise prayers on Mount Gerizim in the West Bank. One of the world's oldest and tiniest sects, the Samaritans trace their roots to the ancient Israelites. Tanya Habjouqa/Noor Images for NPR

Before dawn on March 21, 1995, someone broke into a synagogue in the Palestinian city of Nablus. The thief — maybe it was a band of thieves — crossed the carpeted sanctuary, pulled back a heavy velvet curtain, and opened a carved wooden ark. Inside were two handwritten copies of the Torah, the Five Books of Moses. These manuscripts are the Samaritans' most jealously guarded possessions, and collectors across the globe have gone to great lengths to get their hands on them. So have thieves.Who stole the Torahs? Why? And what would it take to get them back? The mystery was irresistible — a tale of looted manuscripts and an ancient tribe's quest to retrieve them. [More]

Handcrafted Torah adornments at center of legal battle shed light on Colonial American Jewish life

WUBR.ORG
By Penny Schwartz

The Torah finials at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. (Penny Schwartz for WBUR)

BOSTON---One of the gallery highlights during the Museum of Fine Arts' celebration of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, on Wednesday is a pair of handcrafted Colonial-era silver adornments for a Torah scroll. The rare pieces, called Torah finials, made by artisan Myer Myers, have been on loan to the MFA from the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, since late 2010 — and are at the center of a high-stakes intra-religious legal battle between two centuries-old Jewish congregations. The dispute over ownership between a Rhode Island and a New York congregation, which began in late 2012, is now before the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. The court's decision could bear on whether these artifacts remain on public view in the MFA's Art of the Americas wing. [More]

From high art to Disney-esque, menorahs of all kinds light the way during Hanukkah

THE DENVER POST
By Colleen Smith

Students from the Denver Center for International Studies learn about menorahs at the Mizel Museum on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017.

DENVER---Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, has for centuries outshined the darkness of bigotry. “Hanukkah is even more important this year because this holiday brings light and hope into the world at a time when it’s really needed,” said Melanie Avner of the Mizel Museum, a Jewish cultural center in Denver. That Hanukkah light originates from menorahs, which come in all sizes and shapes and are made of a variety of materials and range in tone from somber to silly. This year, Hanukkah begins the evening of Dec. 12. [More]

Bring Hanukkah in with a Tyrannosaurus Rex sized roar

THE PRESS HERALD
By Meredith Goad

"Menorasaurus Rex" by Lisa Pierce

PORTLAND---When Hanukkah begins Tuesday, Lisa Pierce’s family will light her grandmother’s menorah, a family heirloom that looks like a traditional candelabrum with nine branches. Then, just for fun, she’ll light a dinosaur menorah. Or a hippo. Or a penguin. Pierce’s menorah menagerie consists of her own playful creations that she sells mostly through her Etsy.com shop, The Vanilla Studio. The most popular is “Menorasaurus Rex,” a fierce-looking Tyrannosaurus Rex, but she also makes other dinosaurs (a brontosaurus and a triceratops), as well as an elephant, alligator, turtle, hippo and yes, even a not-so-kosher lobster. [More]

A pair of Heinrich Wilhelm Kompff's torah finials were missing from Kristallnacht (1938) until 1970

JEWISH MUSEUM

Heinrich Wilhelm Kompff's "Torah Finials" (1797-99)

NEW YORK---In a publication of 1931, this pair of finials (rimmonim) is described as being in one of the two Kassel synagogues. Nothing is known of their whereabouts from Kristallnacht (1938) until 1970, when the finials were purchased from a dealer. According to their inscriptions, the finials were "a donation of Rabbi Zelig, son of Rabbi Feis of blessed memory, for the Torah scroll of the Benevolent Society in the year [5]559 [1798/99]." This inscription appears along the circular bases that were probably added to the finials shortly before they were purchased. The unusual form of the finials reflects the late-eighteenth-century interest in antiquity and the vogue for classical forms in the decorative arts. [More]

Aliza Nisenbaum's majestic portraits of communities

HYPERALLERGIC
By Sheila Regan

Aliza Nisenbaum, “Nimo, Sumiya, and Bisharo harvesting flowers and vegetables at Hope Community Garden” (2017) (all photos by the author for Hyperallergic)

MINNEAPOLIS — The subjects in Aliza Nisenbaum’s group portraits, now on view in A Place We Share at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), look almost regal in their presentation. The groups are carefully composed, as if they were posing for a formal photography shoot, though in reality Nisenbaum had each person sit with her individually. While these people don’t wield a huge amount of social or political power, Nisenbaum portrays them with majesty and importance, and in so doing upends class and status structures. Nisenbaum, a Harlem-based artist who was born in Mexico City and raised by Russian-Jewish and Scandinavian-American parents. Aliza Nisenbaum: A Place We Share continues at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (2400 3rd Ave S., Minneapolis) through February 4. [More]

Synagogue’s mix of arts and religion helps shape Jewish life in Wash., DC

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Noah Weiland

The synagogue reopened in 2004 after serving as a Methodist church and nearly becoming a night club. Credit Jared Soares for The New York Times

WASHINGTON, DC---On a wet night in August, in a bare room in the basement of the Sixth and I synagogue, one of Washington’s oldest, the comedian Joe Mande was preparing backstage for his stand-up set. While other Jewish organizations have tried a culture-centric model — the 92nd Street Y in New York is perhaps the best-known example — Sixth and I’s blend of the religious and the artistic has become a local template, a convergence of intellectual and spiritual currents that has helped shape the character of Judaism in Washington. At a time when young Jews see synagogue affiliations as less of a social obligation, Sixth and I’s nonmembership, ticketed model has given them a way to be spiritually self-structured, to come and go, to pay by the activity.[More]

Video artist Ruth Schreiber selected for Balfour 100 exhibit

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

Still shot from video "Balfour at 100" by Ruth Schreiber

November 2017 marks the centennial of Britain’s Balfour Declaration, the first international recognition of a Jewish homeland of Isreal. As part of the celebration, an exhibition is being organized at the Knesset (Parliament) of Israel in Jerusalem, and at the Jewish Museum Manchester, UK. According to video artist Ruth Schreiber, her vinstallation, "Balfour at 100" was chosen for exhibition. Schreiber has exhibited in Israel, Europe, and North America. Her work as an artist includes the creation of sculptures, paintings, photography, installation pieces, and video art.

It’s always Chanukah in this picture-perfect Italian town

CLEVELAND JEWISH NEWS

EUGENIO CARMI 2000 60 x 60 x 3,5 cm Mixed media on wood and fabric

CASALE MONFERRATO, Italy – It’s always Chanukah in this picturesque town in northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Jews have lived in Casale Monferrato for more than 500 years, with the community reaching its peak of 850 members at about the time Jews here were granted civil rights in 1848. The town still boasts one of Italy’s most ornate synagogues, a rococo gem that dates to the 16th century. These days, only two Jewish families live in Casale. The synagogue, which is part of a larger museum complex, is now a major tourist attraction – and not only because of its opulent sanctuary with huge chandeliers, colorfully painted walls and lots of gilding. The former women’s section has been transformed into a Judaica and Jewish history museum. And the synagogue’s basement, formerly a matzah bakery, is now home to the Museum of Lights. [More]

NYC Rabbi's pop art lessons on Judaism finds home in Indianapolis

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

Gregory Disney-Britton seated at home in Indianapolis holding "Orange Socks" by Hasidic pop artist Rabbi Yitzchok Moully. “In truth, Judaism really asks us to find ourselves within the experience. It’s not about being a carbon copy, said Moully. "It’s asking us to find personal meaning within Judaism.”

Beth Judah Temple photographed as part of "Synagogues 360.org"

CAPE MAY COUNTY HERALD
By Rachel Rogish

Louis Davidson photographs sanctuary of Beth Judah Temple, Wildwood.

WILDWOOD---Pure light bathes wood, glass, and Stars of David. Voices quiet to murmured tones as tranquility muffles the whipping wind outside. Beth Judah Temple set the stage Oct. 30 for a look into the past and glimpse into the future. Karen Burke of Beth Judah invited the Herald to attend as Louis and Ronnie Davidson, accompanied by their faithful dog Harley, toured the temple's sanctuary. The Davidsons have traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia, Canada, and the United States to photograph Jewish synagogues and temples. Synagogues 360.org is the result of the couple's creativity, offering virtual tours and information on various synagogues around the world. [More]

A trove of Yiddish artifacts rescued from the Nazis, and oblivion

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Joseph Berger

A pinkas, or a kind of registry, of the Lomde Shas Society in Lithuania from 1836, one of the documents rescued from the Nazis and soon to be displayed at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in Manhattan. Credit Kevin Hagen for The New York Times

In one of their odder and more chilling moves, the Nazis occupying Lithuania once collected Yiddish and Hebrew books and documents, hoping to create a reference collection about a people they intended to annihilate. Even stranger, they appointed Jewish intellectuals and poets to select the choicest pearls for study. These workers, assigned to sift through a major Jewish library in Vilna, now Vilnius, ended up hiding thousands of books and papers from the Nazis, smuggling them out under their clothing, and squirreling them away in attics and underground bunkers. But months ago curators at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in Manhattan, the successor to the Vilna library, were told that another trove, totaling 170,000 pages, had been found, somehow overlooked in the same church basement. [More]

Visions of Ottoman Jewry: The art of Nicholas Stavroulakis in New York

THE DAILY SABAH
By Matt Hanson

Nicholas Stavroulakis, Woodcut from the Book of the Jeremiah.

NEW YORK---New York City is almost synonymous with modern Jewish prosperity. It has become a physical and spiritual refuge for an ancient religious minority descended from a nation that barely survived modernity, and for its secular and faith-based traditions now preserved on an urban foundation unmatched in its forward speculation. Nicholas Stavroulakis was born in the American Midwest and lived mostly in England, Israel and Greece. Following his passing on May 19 at the age of 84, eulogists from Gabriel Negrin, the Chief Rabbi of Athens to The New York Times, remembered his life in great detail. Relatively little, though, is relayed about the special relationship he had to New York during his life, and that New York continues to have with him and his artistic legacy. [More]

Museum exhibit: ‘The Seventh Day: Revisiting Shabbat’

THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
By Zak Mazur

"Rainbow Shabbat" by Judy Chicago (1992); Style: Feminist Art; Genre: figurative; Location: Brooklyn Museum, New York City, NY, US File Source: www.brooklynmuseum.org

MILWAUKEE – It is said that Shabbat is the most important ritual observance in Judaism and is the only ritual observance instituted in the Ten Commandments. Halakha — Jewish law — describes how Shabbat should be observed in precise detail, which is how Orthodox Jews observe the day of rest. What does Shabbat look like and how is it observed?” You’ll be able to explore that complex question at an upcoming Jewish Museum Milwaukee exhibit, “The Seventh Day: Revisiting Shabbat.” The exhibit runs through Dec. 31 at the museum, 1360 N. Prospect Ave. For museum hours and special programming visit JewishMuseumMilwaukee.org. [More]

British artist’s work is centrepiece of Balfour centenary exhibition in Jerusalem

THE JEWISH NEWS

LONDON---British artist’s painting is to be the centrepiece of an event dedicated to the Balfour Declaration at this year’s Jerusalem Biennale for Contemporary Jewish Art. ‘Balfour Accomplished’ by Beverley-Jane Stewart, a large-scale oil on canvass, will be on display at Jerusalem’s Machtarot Museum (the Underground Prisoners Museum), for six weeks from October 1, 2017. Stewart, who is recognised for her exploration of the relationship between Jewish and British culture, said ‘Balfour Accomplished’ included imagery “from the past and present” and that she was “honoured” to feature in such a prestigious Israeli event. [More]

Israeli artist Shy Abady explores the failure of modern Judaism

HAARETZ
By Shaul Setter

Shy Abady's 'The Pretty Jewess (After Synagoga)' Avi Amsalem

TEL AVIV---An exhibition of portraits that features lesser known or errant offspring in Jewish history positions the ‘Arab Jew’ as the necessary extreme of the dynasty. The exhibition of portraits by Shy Abady (Jerusalem-born, 1965) enters the Schechter Gallery and transforms it, precisely because it is not “unorthodox” or progressive in the usual sense. On the contrary, this exhibition, “The Restless,” is fraught with a pungent sense of looking back, reexamination, turbulence and complication. On the face of it, the show follows the regular contour lines of Conservative Judaism. It consists of 10 portraits of Jewish women and men from different eras of Jewish history: from Abinadav, the son of King Saul, to Felix Mendelssohn, Hans Herzl (Theodor’s son) and Hannah Arendt, down to the artist’s mother and grandfather. [More]