What is Judaica Art?
What is Jewish Art? I have attended
many a lecture and course on this exact topic and still don’t know the answer.
Is it art done by a Jewish person? Is it art on a Jewish theme? Is it artistic
movement — since dance is also art — based on a Jewish topic? My favorite
example of this dilemma was given by Ori Soltes — the former director of the
B’nai Brith Klutznick Museum in Washington. He showed us a painting done by
Mark Rothko. It was a totally black canvas with a vertical white line about two
inches wide vertically placed down the middle. He asked, “Is this Jewish art?
It is painted by a Jewish artist…” My first impression was no — it is color and
allows us emotion in interpretation but I wouldn’t call it Jewish art. Ori then
continued to tell us that it is a painting about the first day of creation. The
white line is the creation of light out of darkness. We then saw something
different in the white line and the black — the image had not changed, but our
perception of it was entirely new. This was definitely Jewish art.
Just as the physical elements of
Jewish art tend not to stray from the materials of any artist’s trade, so the
process of creating Judaic art tends toward established techniques. We take a
brush, or a sewing needle, words on a computer, some paint or some fabric, or
even our bodies. These are all physical, touchable items, really just objects
until we emote something into them that allows others to have a reaction to
them. A blue blob on a piece of paper reminds the artist of the sky, the sea —
and further, a wonderful time we had at the ocean with our family, when our
youngest daughter… and so we go on into something which makes us feel good. The
person who put that blue blob on the paper is in awe — at least when it is me —
that something the artist does causes such a wonderful reaction in others. But
that is what all artistic endeavor does — it allows us to feel something about
ourselves because of what others feel about it.
But here is where my experience as
an artist becomes more specifically Jewish. I cannot count the number of times
that someone will enter my exhibit booth at a Judaic convention and begin to
talk about “my tallit” — whether she made it herself, it was made by a special
relative or friend, it was given to her by someone in her family — that
person’s eyes seem to glaze over and they are lost in reverie, reliving that
wonderful time. Just by being there I have allowed people to remember touching
times in their lives and to feel great for a brief moment as they explore their
personal Jewish histories.
And to further remind myself what is
truly Jewish about my art, I need only think of an experience I had tying the
tzitzit with one particular family. The grandfather was a holocaust survivor.
He cried as he was trying to tie the tzitzit, and remarked that he never
thought he would experience tying the tzitzit on his grandson’s tallit. His
hands were arthritic and he and “grandma” tied one side together. She held each
knot and the strands tightly so he could maneuver the strings more easily.
There was not a dry eye in the shop.
Or of a time when a 9-year-old
sibling of an almost-Bat-Mitzvah girl was watching as the family was tying. The
mother told the son that he couldn’t help, since he didn’t want to have a
Bar-Mitzvah and refused to go to Hebrew school. I don’t know what he
experienced sitting there watching, but it transformed him. He announced when
we were finished — after having said not a word the entire two hours — that he
would like to do that for his tallit. His mother reminded him that he was not
having a Bar-Mitzvah and therefore would not get a tallit. He told her there
and then that he wanted one and would start Hebrew school. She called two years
later to tell me that he was continuing with his studies, that they had set the
date for his Bar-Mitzvah, and they would be coming to my shop to design his
tallit next year. In moments like that, my questions melt away and I know what
Jewish art is.
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Reeva Shaffer is a designer of fine
tallits, huppas, torah mantles and wall hangings. She is owner of the design
company Reeva’s ‘Ritings With Ruach.
Her work is displayed in the permanent
collections of the Spertus Museum in Chicago, the Baltimore Jewish Council,
Wilshire Blvd. Temple in Los Angeles, the Hebrew Union College Gallery in New
York, and Liberaal Josdse Gemeente in Amsterdam, among many others.
Gallery Judaica
Quest Gifts creates beautiful, functional, and timeless works of art for the home. The
intricate imagery of Quest Gifts' work makes their pieces appear every
bit as delicate and fragile as the natural objects they represent. Quest Gifts'
artwork is constructed from pewter and hand-painted with high-gloss enamel.
They use only the highest quality materials: Swarovski crystal, 24 karat gold, and sterling silver plate. Hand-mixing the paints that they use on each piece results in slight variations in color tone, an
organic quality that enhances the floral themes that appear throughout the collection. 
