Yeshiva University Museum (NYC)

From YUM’s curator (follow his Tumblr at zcurator):

A RADIO THAT SHOWS BUTTS? WHAT IS THIS MAGIC?!

No, it’s one of Wallace Berman’s Varifax collages (named after Kodak’s Verifax copy machine which Berman used to make his work). Peering deep into the future (into our present) Berman depicts four, then ubiquitous, portable AM/FM radios. However, instead of a speakers projecting sounds, Berman presents the radios projecting an image — football, cigarets a naked butt. Nevertheless, all of these could have likewise projected their respective familiar sounds live, on radio!

Thought of as one of the fathers of contemporary collage — reminds me of a great Hannah Hoch exhibition I saw at LACMA in ‘95! — Berman drew on images and practices employed by Beat artists and poets, as well as earlier surrealists. Berman was interested in Jewish mysticism and created several works that present Hebrew letter combinations that he found in Kabbalistic texts.

Wallace Berman, Verifax collage and synthetic polymer with prestype on paperboard, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of Charles Cowles, 1988, Accession Number: 88.31

1 day ago 15 notes

YOM HA’ZIKARON - THE DAY OF REMEMBRANCE

Today is the Israeli Day of Remembrance, a day when Israelis and many Jews observe the sacrifices made for creating the state of Israel.

This poster is characteristic of similar poster in the first years of the Jewish State, which considered military service and agrarian labor in the service of the collective society as crucial to the survival of the state.

Shoulder to Shoulder, Rudi Deutsch-Dayan, Lithograph, Israel, 1948, Collection of Yeshiva University Museum, Gift of the Jesselson Family

1 month ago 23 notes

From YUM’s Curator: IS IT RED IF YOU SAY IT’S RED? THIS IS

I’m no typography nerd, but there’s something so pleasing about various orthographic forms placed adjacent to one another in complimentary fonts.

zcurator.tumblr.com saw this on bitforms:

Yael Kanarek, Wavelength Range of Roughly 630-7540 nm, No. 7,2011

wood, silicone words in five languages:

English, Hebrew, Arabic, Yiddish and Spanish

diameter 72” / 182.9 cm

Photo: John Berens

image courtesy bitforms gallery nyc

on view now through Aug 5!

(via zcurator)

1 month ago 118 notes

WE WERE ONCE SLAVES

…But now we’re free. This is the message of Passover, the Jewish holiday celebrating the freedom of the Jews from Ancient Egypt.

These pages are from a 1945 Haggadah (Script for the Passover meal) and they speak specifically to the nature of slavery and freedom. They’re also stunning, sharp images. See more: CJH Catalogue Page

Siegmuch Forst, Ben-Ami Scharfstein, G. Ephros, The Children’s Passover Haggadah, Shilo Publishing House, New York, 1945, 1998.961

2 months ago 50 notes

IT’S ALIVE! - Learn Hebrew Through Pictures!

Living Language, the title is the title of this book which teaches young people — like the dandy lad on its cover — how to read and write Hebrew, mostly through pictures. Here’re a few of those pictures.

Published in 1909, at a time when the Hebrew language was rarely spoken outside of religious learning and prayer, this and similar books sought to resurrect what many modern Jews — perhaps the parents of the dandy lad on the cover — regarded as a dead or dying everyday language.

And why is it here today? Well, it’s almost Pesach (Passover) and the author’s name is Pesach Lev Fishman. So … no relation really. We just like the picture.

Safah Chaya, Pesach Lev Fishman, published 1909 by the Hebrew Publishing Company, 1998.895

2 months ago 48 notes

COVER UP — YOUR MATZAH IS SHOWING

And, what better way to cover your Matzah than with this decorative Matzah cover from the early 20th century? Have something similar for your Seder?

The cover features Hebrew and Aramaic excerpts from the Passover meal (the seder), and scenes from then contemporary Eretz Yisrael (at the time British Mandate Palestine), ranging from the ancient western wall of the Holy Temple Mout to a matzah factory.

Oh, and what’s matzah? It’s an unleavened bread similar to the heavy bread the ancient Hebrews ate as slaves in Egypt. Jews eat Matzah for the eight days of Passover to commemorate their release from slavery.

Matzah Cover, early 20th Century, Land of Israel, 2004.068

2 months ago 43 notes View high resolution

SO WHEN’S ROSH HASHANA IN 2017? BECAUSE I ALREADY HEAVE A THING AND I’VE MOVED IT TWICE ALREADY…

On the last page of this 24 year calendar that spans from 1940-1969 there is a telling slogan: “Invest Today In America’s Tomorrow!”. This slogan has been used over and over, but somehow it stands out to me. This calendar was produces for the H.J. Heinz Co. In addition to the calendar there are different ads for food products. If investing i in America today would mean buying Heinz ketchup then sign me up.

24 Year Calendar. 1940. Collection of Yeshiva University Museum (2005.29)

11 months ago 10 notes View high resolution

DID YOU COUNT DOWN TO CHEESECAKE? …Like you need an excuse…

Remember that a calendar like this can both help you to count the omer and teach you some Hebrew.

This Hebrew calendar from 1939 was made for Wolozin’s of Eldridge Street New York& Philadelphia. In addition to the pages of the months there are pictures of Torah Arc curtains and Torah ornaments. This Hebrew calendar would have been very helpful for the every day lives of Jews in New York. When comparing this calendar to the Jewish calendars of today, ours are not so different. This calendar lists all of the holidays and fast days and the times that the Sabbath starts and ends, as well as the days that are to be counted for the omer. With the omer half over, we can now count down to the amazing cheese cakes we will eat on Shavuot. Traditionally, dairy is served on Shavuot. There are many reasons, but the one that stands out to me is that before the Israelites received the Torah they were not obliged to keep kosher or perform ritual slaughter of animals. After the Israelites received the Torah on Shavuot there meat dishes had to be made kosher so they opted for dairy food. We eat dairy today in order to remember this event. Use a calendar, like this one, in order to remember how many days until all of the dairy delights!

Calendar, 1939. Collection of Yeshiva University Museum (2006.302)

12 months ago 11 notes View high resolution

A MOTHER’S LOVE AND UPPER BODY STRENGTH? PRICELESS.

Tackle your own mom in the waist this Mother’s Day, May 13!

This 50-Lirot silver coin was produced in Israel in 1979. The front face depicts a mother bouncing a baby in the air while another child embraces her at the waist. Inscriptions in both English and Hebrew read, “Mother of Children, Psalms 113,9.”

Silver coin, 1979. Israel. Collection of Yeshiva University Museum (2009.160)

1 year ago 16 notes View high resolution

ELIJAH? THAT GUY HAS ALL THE BEST CUPS…

There’s a lot of sacramental wine drinking during Passover—commemoration and thanks, not just revelry. But one dinner guest has a special cup: Elijah the prophet. During the Seder, we open the door to invite in this prophet, and we even leave a cup of wine for him. Elijah, in a sense, represents people without a community, people who are wandering, people who do not have a Seder. The cup is can be seen as an expression of welcome fro all those who are hungry and need a place to rest and recline.

Elijah’s Cup. Artist: Ismar David. Hebrew inscription: Elijah the prophet. Sterling silver; glass Gift of the Estate of Ismar David. Collection of Yeshiva University Museum (1997.539)

1 year ago 10 notes View high resolution