New Forms for Traditional Art: Modern Jewish Ceremonial Art (review)

Abstract

VoLume 9, No.3 Spring 1991 131 p. 70), a missing word (aba, abaLe but no ab, p. 437) and translation (for reshamkoLin , p. 440), an unacknowledged smethathesis in the hitpa'eL, pp. 477-478, and finally, a transliteration of key Hebrew words listed in the index would be a desideratum for non-Hebraists. Regardless, a most balanced and accessible account of the state of modern Hebrew. Highly recommended. ZevGarber Los Angeles Valley College The Hebrew Letter: Calligraphic Variations, by Ismar David. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1990. 96 pp, boxed with 32 charts. $40.00. This is a textbook for the serious beginning student. It assumes no previous knowledge of calligraphy, but moves quickly and deeply into the subject . Beyond this, anyone with a love for Hebrew manuscripts will find this work of interest since it alerts them to the differences in style of individual scribes and describes how Hebrew writing has evolved over time and space. The work is generously illustrated with examples of 2,000 years of Hebrew writing. The heart of the text is the set of 32 charts, which contain complete alphabets in many styles. They are all discussed and illustrate both ancient and contemporary (even experimental) styles. Using them, the student can find those forms with which he is the most comfortable. This book should prove to be of great interest for both the beginning and advanced student of calligraphy . Edward Simon Purdue University New Forms for Traditional Art: Modern Jewish Ceremonial Art, by Susi Guggenheim-Weil. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1989. 115 pp. In this multilingual catalogue, the artist presents her work as an innovative maker and decorator of objects of Jewish ritual and custom over a thirtyyear period. Active especially in Europe, Guggenheim-Weil has worked as a scribe and illuminator of manuscripts, as a textile designer, a stone carver, and a skilled craftswoman in metal and ceramics. She always appears to be an· artist attached to the traditions of Jewish ritual art and to the clarity and sim- 132 SHOFAR plicity of modern design, especially in typography. A sentimental illustrator, Guggenheim-Weil is at her best in the design and layout of Hebrew texts, whether written in manuscripts (Haggadah, Megillah, Ketubbah), embroidered on the curtains of the Torah Ark, or carved beneath or above the surface of tombstones, especially of family members in Swiss cemeteries. Guggenheim-Weil demonstrates the creative possibilities of a career as a contemporary designer and artisan in the field of Jewish art, but also the limitations of her role as a decorator whose work is so often absorbed by larger frames of reference. Perhaps it is for this reason that her tombstones seem to be her strongest, most authoritative work, because she has so completely shaped their independent existence. Richard Brilliant Columbia University Die hebraische Bibel in Bilderhandschriften des Mittelalters, by Gabrielle Sed-Rajna, translated by Peter Hahlbrock et al. Fribourg, Switzerland: Office du livre, 1987. 173 pp. Gabrielle Sed-Rajna, the current president of the European Association for Jewish Studies, is one of the leading experts in the field of medieval Jewish art. A disciple of the late Georges Vajda, she is also an expert in early Kabbalah . Her discovery of a distinctive school of book illuminators who worked in Portugal in the 15th century, and which she described in her book Manuscrits hebreux de Lisbonne. Un atelier de copi~tes et d'enlumineurs au xve siecle (Paris, 1970), was followed by the publication of numerous other works and textual studies. When the editors of the famous Parisian encyclopedic series of books "Que sais-je" decided to dedicate a volume to Jewish art, it was natural for them to invite Mme Sed-Rajna to write it. In the present version of The Hebrew Bible (the book was originally written in French), Mme. Sed-Rajna sets out to examine and to analyze the way in which medieval book illuminators presented biblical scenes, events, and personalities in such volumes. As basic references, she uses the sequences of biblical scenes found in two famous Spanish Haggadoth, the "Golden Haggadah" and the "Sarajevo Haggadah," both of which were produced in the 14th century. A third haggadah, the "Barcelona Haggadah," was included...