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Category: Book Illustrations & Art

Cherubim: Winged Celestial Beings on the Title-Pages of Early Hebrew Books

Cherubim: Winged Celestial Beings on the Title-Pages of Early Hebrew Books

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Cherubim: Winged Celestial Beings on the Title-Pages of Early Hebrew Books by Marvin J. Heller[1]   And having driven out the man, He stationed at the east of the Garden of Eden the Cherubim and the flame of the ever-turning sword, to guard the way to the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:24). You shall make two Cherubim of gold—hammered out shall you make them—from both ends of the cover. You shall make one cherub from the end at one side…

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Birds’ Heads, Romaine Lettuce, and the Art of Reading a Haggadah

Birds’ Heads, Romaine Lettuce, and the Art of Reading a Haggadah

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Birds’ Heads, Romaine Lettuce, and the Art of Reading a Haggadah A persistent question arises with every illustrated Haggadah, whether a fourteenth-century Sephardic manuscript or a mid-twentieth-century Maxwell House edition: what function do these images serve? Are they merely decorative, do they provide commentary, or do they serve as documentary evidence of ritual practice? Furthermore, when these images draw from the visual culture of the surrounding non-Jewish world, as is often the case, does such borrowing diminish their Jewish character,…

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Depicting Difference: The Tower of Babel and the Language of Sacred Art

Depicting Difference: The Tower of Babel and the Language of Sacred Art

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Depicting Difference: The Tower of Babel and the Language of Sacred Art “For form is only the manifestation, the shape of content.” Ben Shahn, The Shape of Content, p. 72 Genesis chapter 11 presents the narrative of the Tower of Babel, detailing how, contrary to the divine directive to disperse and populate the earth, the descendants of the flood’s survivors congregated in a single city and commenced construction of a substantial tower. God intervened to prevent further cooperation among them…

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Ten Commandment Representations in Hebrew Manuscripts & Books: Artistic Approaches to Theological Issues in Judaism

Ten Commandment Representations in Hebrew Manuscripts & Books: Artistic Approaches to Theological Issues in Judaism

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Ten Commandment Representations in Hebrew Manuscripts & Books: Artistic Approaches to Theological Issues in Judaism Dan Rabinowitz Today, the Ten Commandments or Decalogue[1] are among the most prominently featured symbols associated with Judaism. The Decalogue is represented by two tablets, generally connected and rounded at the top. This representation occupies a central place within synagogue architecture, often displayed on the exterior or interior of the edifices and frequently above the ark itself, which is regarded as the most sacred element…

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The Mother Haggados: Models for Modern Analysis of Printed Jewish Illustrations

The Mother Haggados: Models for Modern Analysis of Printed Jewish Illustrations

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The Mother Haggados: Models for Modern Analysis of Printed Jewish Illustrations There is a long tradition of illustrating Haggados, dating back to at least the early Middle Ages. Likely only a small portion of those manuscripts has survived. However, most have been reprinted, and their imagery has been meticulously analyzed and cataloged. These manuscripts can broadly be divided into two categories based on their places of origin: Sephardic or Ashkenazic countries. The former includes the creation cycle and the Exodus…

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A Young Man Holding a Torah Scroll and a Young Woman Holding a Book: The Life and Afterlife of Two Illustrations

A Young Man Holding a Torah Scroll and a Young Woman Holding a Book: The Life and Afterlife of Two Illustrations

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A Young Man Holding a Torah Scroll and a Young Woman Holding a Book: The Life and Afterlife of Two Illustrations By Rachel Manekin Rachel Manekin is Professor Emerita of Jewish Studies at the University of Maryland. Her area of specialization is the social, political, and cultural history of Galician Jewry. She is the author of The Jews of Galicia and the Austrian Constitution: The Beginning of Modern Jewish Politics (Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish History, 2015, Hebrew), and most…

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