TORAH PORTION
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Jewish Art Seen
As One Step To God
RABBI RICHARD C. HERTZ
Special to The Jewish News
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FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 1992
his week's Torah por-
tion brings us to the
final section of the
book of Exodus and deals
with the actual construction
of the ancient sanctuary. The
Torah describes in loving
detail how every aspect was to
be carried out. We catch a
glimpse of the architect of the
sanctuary,. Bezalel, a man
whom God had endowed
"with a divine spirit of skill,
ability and knowledge in
every kind of craft." Bezalel
was put in charge of all con-
struction -including artistic
vessels of gold, silver, copper,
stone and wood to be used in
the building of the ancient
tabernacle. He was the first
Jewish artist.
The name of Bezalel brings
to mind the immense in-
fluence that art has had upon
our people. Jewish art follow-
ed the pattern of worldwide
dispersion of the Jewish peo-
ple. Wherever Jews went after
their expulsion from Spain in
1492 — in Holland, Italy,
Poland, Germany, Russia or
in America, Jews used in
their synagogues the symbols
and motifs of Jewish rituals,
whether it was the menorah
or the Two Tablets of the Law
or the Holy Ark or the shofar
or the lulav, etrog or even
biblical letters in various in-
scriptions and mystical con-
volutions. No other faith pro-
duced so early in its history
such a wealth and variety of
ceremonial objects so ar-
tistically designed.
Some people think that
Judaism as a religion is an-
tagonistic to art. The reason
Jews came so late into the
field of representational art is
often ascribed to the Ten
Commandments, where the
second commandment speci-
fically prohibits the making
of "graven images." The
pagan environment where
images were objects of wor-
ship for political purposes, as
in Greek and Roman times,
doubtlessly emphasized this
prohibition.
Up to the end of the 19th
century, there were hardly
any Jewish craftsmen or ar-
tists, except perhaps in
medieval Spain or Eastern
Europe. Legal restrictions
prevented Jews from becom-
ing silversmiths or weavers
due to the exclusion of Jews
from medieval guilds. For pre-
Rabbi Hertz is rabbi emeritus
of Temple Beth El.
Emancipation Jews, the only
art that existed was the art
found in the synagogue.
Jewish art was strictly ritual
art.
By the end of the 19th cen-
tury and the beginning of the
20th century, Jews came into
the world of art as Jews, not
as Germans, Frenchmen or
Americans, but as Jews stor-
ming out of the ghettos of
Eastern Europe and flocking
to the studios of Paris with
fantastic results.
Beginning with the 20th
century, Jews can boast of a
great many modern Jewish
painters like Modigliani,
Marc Chagall, Mane-Katz or
Soutine. We have great
Jewish sculptors like Jacob
Epstein, Jacques Lipschitz
and Enrico Glicenstein.
Shabbat Pekudei
Exodus 38:21-40:38
Kings 1 7:51-8:21
In Palestine before it
became Israel, Jewish art had
to start from scratch. Boris
Schatz, the founder of the
School of Arts and Crafts in
Palestine, named it the
Bezalel School. It created a
style long identified with his
style. Boris Schatz discovered
the artistic genius of the
Yemenites and encouraged
them to produce fine metal
objects decorated with fine
silver and copper filigree.
The Israel Museum opened
in 1965. It is now the show-
place of Israel. Across the way
from the Israel. Museum
stands the stately Knesset
with the massive bronze
menorah opposite the
Knesset entrance. Inside the
Knesset are the world-famous
works of Marc Chagall and a
fabulous mural done by the
late Moshe Castel. Chagall's
windows at Hadassah Hospi-
tal have likewise earned
world attention.
A new period of experimen-
tation has created a new kind
of freedom in Jewish art.
America has seen a true
renaissance in Jewish art.
Bezalel of old emphasized
the essence of religious art in
expressing the Jewish spirit
and transmitting a Jewish ex-
perience when he designed
the tabernacle. Bezalel knew
and was taught that art was
one step to God. Jewish art
has come full circle, especial-
ly in modern Israel. Fitting-
ly, its major art school bears
the name of the man first
identified in artistic creativi-
ty, Bezalel, recorded in this
week's Tbrah portion. 0