Jewish Monuments Research Articles

Communities in Crisis: The Medieval Archive and the Jewish Heritage Traveler

ABSTRACT This essay considers how the experience of being a Jewish heritage traveler inflects the author’s approach to reading and teaching medieval literature. For the author, Jewish heritage travel, whether medieval or modern, tells alternative histories which rely upon alternative ways of seeing and interpreting in the face of ongoing, chronic crisis. Just as the medieval travel narrative of Benjamin of Tudela lists Jewish monuments in Rome alongside Christian ones, modern heritage tours intersect with and deviate from mainstream historical narratives, highlighting the achievements — and suffering — of the Jewish minority. To examine medieval literature from this vantage point leads the author not only to construct a parallel archive of Jewish-authored narratives, but also to find surprising examples of collective identity, borne of trauma and the shared experience of crisis, in Christian anti-Semitic sources.

SOCIAL-WIDE PREVENTION MEASURES IN RELATION TO VANDALISM IN THE MODERN CONTEXT

At the present stage of development of society, the problem of vandalism does not lose its relevance, but is actively developing, expressing itself in new forms (vandalism in relation to landscaping, outdoor lighting, and small architectural forms, vandalism in relation to Jewish monuments – anti-semitism). Nowadays, vandalism reigns in various spheres of public relations with the participation of all segments of the population, the legal nature of this phenomenon is constantly developing, improving, and does not correspond to the conventional legal interpretation. Thus, the purpose of the study is to consider and characterise measures of social-wide prevention aimed at effectively preventing the commission of vandalism in modern conditions. The methodological basis of the study consists of dialectical, formal logical, system and structural, and statistical methods. The theoretical basis of the study is the papers of Ukrainian and foreign researchers on the analysed negative social phenomenon and improving the effectiveness of countering it in Ukraine in the modern context. The study examines the issue of vandalism as an urgent problem of modern society, because in modern social conditions vandalism poses a real threat to the national security of the country and requires an urgent state response. The author formulated the definition of the concept of prevention of criminal offences related to vandalism, which fully reveals the structure of prevention, considering the significance and area of vandalism. During the study of the procedure for preventing vandalism, it was established that one of the areas of prevention in law enforcement activities are social-wide measures. It is determined that social-wide prevention, first of all, should be aimed at improving the well-being of the population through influencing social transformations that determine the social, economic, cultural and educational, ideological, legal, organisational and managerial existence of society. It is highlighted that the peculiarity of prevention measures in modern conditions is to consider all elements of criminal offences initiated on the grounds of committing acts of vandalism. The practical significance of the study is both theoretical and practical, because the described scientific provisions, individual generalisations, conclusions, and recommendations can be used in the future in research and in the educational process, because today there is a tendency to a comprehensive study of vandalism to improve the effective mechanism for preventing it

Jewish Monuments in the Regions of Azerbaijan

Jewish Monuments in the Regions of Azerbaijan

Jewish Monuments in Baku, the Capital of Azerbaijan: History and Modern Times

Azerbaijan has historically been a country where different peoples live freely and without any obstacles. Today, an atmosphere of multiculturalism and tolerance based on historical traditions has been formed in our country. Representatives of every nation living in Azerbaijan feel free and independent. Here, local people are kind, hospitable, peaceful and humane, so other nations can express themselves in a comprehensive way. Because the rights of minorities are always protected and all conditions are created for them to keep their mother tongue, culture and religion alive. One of the few peoples living in Azerbaijan is the Jews. Jews settled mainly in the north of Azerbaijan, in the Guba region. This article is about the history of Jews living in Baku, the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Jewish monuments in the city. From ancient times, Jews have lived in different parts of Azerbaijan. They also live in modern times. The Azerbaijani people and the Jewish people have always had friendly relations. Jews have played an important role in the history of Azerbaijan. Jewish representatives were among the ministers of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (1918-1920), the first democratic republic in the East. In the late twentieth century, Jews also played an important role in the struggle for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Albert Agarunov was awarded the title of National Hero of Azerbaijan. Jewish monuments in Azerbaijan, like other monuments, are protected by the state. The care and promotion of Jewish monuments plays an important role in the development of Azerbaijani-Israeli relations in modern times. A number of Azerbaijani cities and Israeli cities have signed a document on twinning. These relations are developing in modern times. Scientific articles and books on the history, culture and historical monuments of the Jews living in Azerbaijan contribute to the development of relations between the two peoples.

Connecting Sacred and Mundane: From Bilingualism to Hermeneutics in Hebrew Epitaphs

AbstractGravestones with Hebrew inscriptions are the most common class of Jewish monuments still present in such regions as Ukraine or Belarus. Epitaphs are related to various Biblical, Rabbinical, and liturgical texts. Despite that, the genre of Hebrew epitaphs seldom becomes an object of cultural or literary studies. In this paper, I show that a function of Hebrew epitaphs is to connect the ideal world of Hebrew sacred texts to the world of everyday life of a Jewish community. This is achieved at several levels. First, the necessary elements of an epitaph – name, date, and location marker – place the deceased person into a specific absolute context. Second, the epitaphs quote Biblical verses with the name of the person thus stressing his/her similarity to a Biblical character. Third, there is Hebrew/Yiddish orthography code-switching between the concepts found in the sacred books and those from the everyday world. Fourth, the epitaphs occupy an intermediate position between the professional and folk literature. Fifth, the epitaphs are also in between the canonical and folk religion. I analyze complex hermeneutic mechanisms of indirect quotations in the epitaphs and show that the methods of actualization of the sacred texts are similar to those of the Rabbinical literature. Furthermore, the dichotomy between the sacred and profane in the epitaphs is based upon the Rabbinical concept of the ‘Internal Jewish Bilingualism’ (Hebrew/Aramaic or Hebrew/Yiddish), which is parallel to the juxtaposition of the Written and Oral Torah.

The Strange Immortalities of Race

The Strange Immortalities of Race

On the semantics of the motif “three hares chasing each other in a circle” on Jewish monuments in Eastern Europe

“Three hares chasing each other in a circle” is one of the most common and peculiar motifs in the murals of Eastern European wooden synagogues. This motif was not an invention of Jewish craftsmen, but rather was borrowed and adapted by them from European art. In the late eighteenth to early nineteenth century this motif appears in various Ashkenazi ritual objects and on the tombstones of Eastern European Jews in the same region, and even in those places where there were painted synagogues. What is the reason for the appearance of this strange motif on Jewish monuments? On some monuments the motif of the “three hares” paradoxically replaces the “three overlapping fish” which are depicted as the zodiacal sign of the month Nisan. On the tombstones the image hints at the name of the deceased. But its central place in the composition of murals is evidence that this motif has an important universal meaning. This analysis of the motif shows that it became an integral part of an artistic tradition and that its semantics were determined within a well-defined geographical and chronological framework.

Looking Jewish: The State of Research on Modern Jewish Art

Being a Jew is like walking in the wind or swimming: you are touched at all points and conscious everywhere.Lionel Trilling, notebook entry, 1928I know of no writer in English who has added a micromillimeter to his status by realizing his Jewishness, although I know of some who have curtailed their promise by trying to heighten their Jewish consciousness.Lionel Trilling, Contemporary Jewish Record, 1944DEFINITIONS AND HISTORIOGRAPHYSCHOLARSHIP ON MODERN JEWISH ART has developed critical mass only in the past two decades, after an uneven pioneer phase most often confined to museum exhibition catalogues and closely researched articles in the once indispensable Journal of Jewish Art (1974- 88). * From Israel (yet written in English), Jewish Art's successor, Ars Judaica (2005-), is now complemented by the first American-edited journal dedicated to Jewish art, Images: A Journal of Jewish Art and Visual Culture (2007-). Several anthologies have recently emerged, such as Matthew Baigell and Milly Heyd's Complex. Identities (2001) and Barbara KirshenblattGimblett and Jonathan Karp's The Art of Being Jewish in Modern Times (2008).2 Much serious work still appears either as museum publications or articles, mostly in journals of Jewish art or Jewish studies.3 Yet Jewish art history continues to suffer from a lack of respectability outside Israel; indeed, the prevailing perception within the discipline of art history does not yet recognize Jewish art as a subfield, such as African American art, let alone Christian or Islamic art. Art history more typically is delineated by nationality, another of the definitions of Jewish difference, and a starting point for some current self-conscious Jewish art scholarship. This essay will discuss such recent contributions to the field of Jewish art, alongside three older landmark books- enduring models for interdisciplinary, historically grounded scholarship in modern Jewish art - by Richard Cohen, Ziva Amishai-Maisels, and Avram Kampf.4General historiographical problems concerning the assessment of Jewish art formed the subject of a 1999 anthology, edited by Catherine Soussloff.5 The first segment considers biases of the field of art history against the very notion of Jewish art, in part due to the widespread misimpression that the Second Commandment prohibited Jews from making pictorial imagery. lisa Saltzman, who also later devoted important books to the subject, tackles the issue of art after the Shoah, particularly for a gentile German like Anselm Kiefer.6 Soussloff's book also engages with how a historian or critic's identity shapes his (in all cases) approach to Jewish art/ Specifically, Margaret Olin examines nineteenth-century art history surveys and their exclusions of Jewish monuments from a dominant progressive narrative, conceived in national and racial terms. Remaining essays on early Jewish art historians and critics, from Aby Warburg to Clement Greenberg, evaluate emerging twentieth-century Jewish visions of the discipline of art history, whether Renaissance or modern.8The old canard about Jewish image-phobia remains widespread. Two recent books, however, have gone far to redress the commonplace that Second Commandment prohibitions inhibited, even prevented, Jewish visual culture. Kaiman Bland, also a contributor to Soussloff's volume, deconstructs the misperception. His 2000 book chronicles a history of ideas starting with German nineteenth-century stereotypes. Even Kant and Hegel regarded Jews as a verbal people who preferred abstraction and monotheism to the materiality and potential idolatry of art objects - hearing and the word dominated over sight and the image.9 But not only racist outsiders, including Richard Wagner, tarred Jews with this limitation. Prominent insiders, such as Hermann Cohen and Franz Rosenzweig, conceded this (potentially self-fulfilling) historical truth as well. While the very existence of any tradition of Jewish art remained steeped in modern debates over the meanings of both art and Jewish identity, Bland also shows that a premodern consensus actually affirmed Jewish art amid lively discussion (as well as debate) by medieval and early modern rabbis. …

Notes on the “Jewish” Inscriptions in Pannonia

The Jewish inscriptions of Pannonia from the Roman period have been collected and edited several times but the identification and the interpretation of these inscriptions are heavily disputed. A new interpretation of this epigraphic material shows that only a portion of the inscriptions can be considered as Jewish monuments.

Antisemitismus in Deutschland: Zur Aktualität eines Vorurteils (review)

194 SHOFAR Fall 1996 Vol. 15, No. 1 Antisemitismus in Deutschland: ZurAktualitit eines Vorurteils, edited by Wolfgang Benz. Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1995. 235 pp. DM 19.90. This collection of 12 essays on antisemitism in contemporary Germany is without a doubt the best book on the topic to date. As Wolfgang Benz, Director of the Center for Anti-Semitism Research at the Technical University of Berlin, explains, the intent of this volume was not to provide a theoretical investigation of antisemitism, but to explore the different aspects of how this prejudice has manifested itself in the post-World War II period. The articles are based on empirical research from historical, psychoanalytical, ethnographical, sociological, and political perspectives. The first two essays in the book, "Zur politisch-kulturellen Tradition des Antisemitismus in Deutschland," by Hermann Graml, and "Das Judentum als Antithese: Zur Tradition eines kulturellen Wertungsmusters," by Christhard Hoffmann, provide incisive historical background about antisemitism in Germany. Graml points out that the "Jewish Question" in Germany always emphasized how the Jews were considered an inferior race that needed to improve and change to become German, whereas Hoffmann demonstrates that Germans sought to identifY themselves ideally by using Jews arbitrarily as negative models in diametrically opposite thinking. Thus, Jews came to represent outward appearance versus spirituality, particularism versus universalism, the God of revenge versus the God of love, superstition versus reason, diaspora versus nation, etc. This type of anti-Jewish thinking in Germany has for the most part been seriously questioned and broken in the post-1945 period. Nevertheless, there are new forms of antisemitism that have arisen,· and they have occurred not in spite of Auschwitz, but rather ironically (and sadly) because ofAuschwitz. Since Jews have a different attitude toward the Nazi past and never want to forget it, they are regarded (consciously and unconsciously) as obstacles in the German path toward the normalization of history and the German nation. In light of this development, the rest of the essays in Antisemitismus in Deutschland document the manner in which new forms of antisemitism have developed because ofAuschwitz. In "Wie antisemitisch sind die Deutschen? Meinungsfragen 19451994 ," Werner Bergmann and Rainer Erb study the different phases of antisemitism in West and East Germany and conclude that, while the majority ofGermans have become less antisemitic, there has recently been a rise of antisemitism among the young who resent Jews because of the Book Reviews 195 Holocaust and believe that they have been victimized by an event that, in their eyes, may never have happened or has been exaggerated. In "Antisemitismus in offentlichen Konflikten," Bergmann describes the various public conflicts between Germans and Jews since 1945 and concludes that there has been a collective learning process so that Germans are more aware of the Jewish viewpoint and are more inclined to punish and disapprove of antisemitic acts. Nevertheless, as Lothar Mertens demonstrates in "Antizionismus: Feindschaft gegen Israel als neue Form des Antisemitismus," one manner in which traditional antisemitism has been transformed is through anti-Zionist actions. Here all Jews are identified with Israel and thus can only be alien "Israelites" in Germany, and since Israel is allegedly aligned withJewish capitalism in America,Jews are depicted as imperialistic Zionists, who seek to expand their power. Here it should be stressed that view is limited to extreme right and left political groups in Germany. Moreover, as Juliane Wetzel in "Antisemitismus als Element rechtsextremer Ideologie und Propaganda" and Wolfgang Benz in "Realitiltsverweigerung als antisemitisches Prinzip: Die Leugnung des Volkermords" point out, the dominant antisemitic groups are on the extreme right and often collaborate with other right-wing forces in the United States, France, and England to distort history and make it seem that the Shoah was an invention ofJewish propaganda. The new forms of antisemitism, while not supported by the majority ofGermans, have led to a great deal ofviolence in Germany. In "Diffamierung mit Tradition-Friedhofsschilndungen," Marion Neiss gives an informative report on the desecration of cemeteries and other Jewish monuments in Germany. In "Der Jude als Bolschewist: Die Wiederbelebung eines Stereotyps," Daniel Gerson describes how Jews have once again been identified with communists, especially since the fall ofthe Wall, and somehow held responsible for totalitarian regimes in...

Past and Future Values: The Architectural Legacy of Metropolitan Religion

In spite of the increasing secularisation of the world around them, religious buildings in Britain are difficult to ignore. Often the most architecturally important buildings in their communities, concern for the use and development of churches and chapels is by no means confined to regular worshippers. In rural areas, declining populations and reduced congregations have led to radical reorganisations of parochial ministry which have been characterised less by closure of churches than by the creation of multiple benefices: here as many as four or five parishes, each of which once had their own priest, may be served by a single incumbent. In the urban context the problems have been rather different. The large number of church buildings is less easy to justify geographically and attempts at urban rationalisation have involved closure, change of use, and demolition more often than in the countryside. In both contexts these developments have provoked fierce local debate, so that those who find themselves at the sharp end of such controversies are often surprised by how hard people will fight for the right to have a church to stay away from! The tendency over the last decade to regard 'heritage' as a packaged commodity in which there is no room for future development, coupled with a growing dissatisfaction with the modernist architectural styles of the post-war years, has considerably added to the burden of those responsible for buildings which are too large or costly for present needs but which are also too architecturally important, or have too many 'historical associations' to be consigned to the bulldozer. Deliberations about the future use of some of London's most important churches are now under way, and two recent publications reveal that concern about the architectural legacy of religious observance in the capital is by no means confined to the established church nor, indeed, to Christian denominations. Jewish monuments have not sofar figured prominently in general debates on conservation, and 'saving' campaigns directed at specific Jewish buildings have been rare. For most non-Jews, knowledge of the types of buildings and artefacts which constitute the 'Jewish heritage' is very limited, and within the Jewish community itself appreciation of the artistic value and historical significance of buildings, furnishing and records has not been widespread. In the last two or three years, however, attempts have been made to increase awareness of the riches which survive, and to encourage a systematic policy of recording and (when appropriate) preservation. In July 1990 a conference on the theme 'Preserving the Jewish heritage' was held at Southampton University, and was the first nationwide attempt to co-ordinate action on Jewish heritage conservation in Britain. Later the same year a symposium organised in New York by the Jewish Heritage Council of the World Monuments Fund addressed similar themes from an international perspective. Both events were influential in deciding the shape and content of a conference devoted to Jewish monuments in the British Isles organised by Dr Sharman Kadish in association with the Centre for Metropolitan History and held at the Yakar educational foundation in Hendon in October 1991. About 100 Jewish and non-Jewish delegates heard sixteen wide-ranging papers dealing with the history, preservation and future use of Jewish sites and buildings. Abstracts of the papers have now been made available, and provide a useful introduction to a subject which does not usually figure prominently in discussions on the preservation and destruction of historic monuments in London and other urban centres. 1 The papers fall into three groups, considering in turn London, the regions and 'Jewish heritage conservation and the wider community'. They are introduced by a summary of Dr Kadish's opening address which outlines some of the problems facing campaigners for Jewish monuments and recom-

Training Jewish Studies Teachers

Volume 9, No.4 Summer 1991 119 donors, but if we could dangle enough money in front of History and Comparative Literature, they might see the positions we have in mind as having higher priority than they now assign to them. In ten years, we have created a modest but respectable program with a sound infrastructure for future development. We have good working relations with other administrative and academic units and with the library, as well as with Hillel and the local synagogue, although we are clearly independent of both institutions. We frequently collaborate with the International Survey of Jewish Monuments, also located on our campus. In sponsoring and cosponsoring visiting scholars and artists we have helped to enrich the Jewish intellectual life of the community, and we continue to encourage scholarly research and the development of new courses in pertinent areas. Whether our potential for growth is realized depends on our obtaining major outside funding. Training Jewish Studies Teachers Samuel Greengus Hebrew Union College~JewishInstitute of Religion In listening to the discussion today, it is clear that there are many ways to "package" Judaic or Jewish Studies. One thrust seems to be ethnicity, in that Jewish Studies can be viewed as or imagined in a manner parallel to that of "women's studies" or "African-American studies." At the same time, the label of Jewish Studies seems also to contain a diverse set of disciplines that are also at home in other departments and fields, e.g., history, literature, art, music, philosophy, etc. But we have not had as much to say today on the subject of training scholars who can teach in the fields of Jewish Studies. This is a subject very close to my heart and professional interests. Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where I teach, is a graduate school and postgraduate school only. We have a long-established Rabbinical School, training rabbis for the Reform Movement of Judaism. Most of you know this. But we also offer professional programs training cantors, Jewish educators, and communal workers; and in Cincinnati we have a School of Graduate Studies, awarding a Ph.D. in Hebraic and Cognate Studies. This program is open to all faiths. A good number of our non-Jewish students are, in fact, clergy of various Christian denominations. Our Rabbinical School and Jewish professional programs have in some ways benefited from the availability of Jewish Studies at so many fine colleges 120 SHOFAR and universities. Jewish Studies at the college level have enabled young American Jews to have yet another opportunity to acquire knowledge of Judaism and Jewish culture when they are at a level of maturity beyond that of a traditional religion school. The availability of Jewish Studies during undergraduate years has helped restimulate young people to think about careers in the Jewish community. This is all to the good. But we must also think about the necessity of links that can and should exist between Jewish Studies at the undergraduate level and the necessity to develop and maintain career openings for young scholars who may wish to work in the field of Jewish Studies. What, for example, is the relationship between Jewish Studies and the classical fields of Hebraica and Judaica like Bible, intertestamental literature, Talmud, responsa, liturgy, Jewish history, philosophy, and literature? When we talk about Jewish Studies where do we insert these core areas ofJewish culture and experience? What is or should be the relationship between Jewish Studies and Judaism? Can a student become a scholar in the area of general Jewish philosophy without studying in the philosophy department of your college or university? Is Jewish philosophy recognized in the department of philosophy? Conversely, how does a Ph.D. in Philosophy deal with Jewish philosophical literature without some systematic background in Hebraic texts? The same question can be asked of departments of history, literature, etc. I am concerned about how we advise young students who wish to prepare themselves for an academic career in Jewish Studies. The range of disciplines is so broad: how much knowledge of Hebrew language and literature is needed? how much of other disciplines? These are some of the questions on my mind today. I am...

Corrigenda and Addenda: Jewish Monuments of the Middle Ages in Germany: One Hundred and Ten Tombstone Inscriptions from Speyer, Cologne, Nuremberg and Worms (1085-c. 1428): Part I

Corrigenda and Addenda: Jewish Monuments of the Middle Ages in Germany: One Hundred and Ten Tombstone Inscriptions from Speyer, Cologne, Nuremberg and Worms (1085-c. 1428): Part I

Jewish Monuments of the Middle Ages in Germany (Continued)

Jewish Monuments of the Middle Ages in Germany (Continued)

Jewish Monuments of the Middle Ages in Germany: One Hundred and Ten Tombstone Inscriptions from Speyer, Cologne, Nuremberg and Worms (1085-c. 1428): Part I

Jewish Monuments of the Middle Ages in Germany: One Hundred and Ten Tombstone Inscriptions from Speyer, Cologne, Nuremberg and Worms (1085-c. 1428): Part I

A Jewish Gold Medallion

The object in Fig. 1 is a circular medallion of sheet gold embossed with Jewish symbols recently presented to the Jewish Museum, Woburn House, Upper Woburn Place. In the centre is the seven-branched candlestick familiar on Jewish monuments of antiquity. With it are associated, as usual, the Shofár or Trumpet of horn, and the luláb or ritual sheaf of palm leaves, etc., used on the Festival of Tabernacles. The representation of the luláb here is somewhat angular, so that it is not easy to recognise. For such medallions cf. Reifenberg, Denkmäler der Jüdischen Antike pl. 56 and for the symbols, Frey, Corpus Inscriptionum Judaicarum.Above the symbols is inscribed in Greek letters of late date: |ΠΙΝΝωΝΑ. ‘ Ex voto of Jacob the Leader (?) the setter of pearls.’ The word ἀρχηγὁς may perhaps be used in the sense of , the president of the community, but such a use is unfamiliar; indeed the word does not seem to occur in Byzantine Greek. Mr. Tod has kindly suggested that it might be the dedicant's alternative name, like Dorcas—Tabitha, since such a name as “ΑρΧων is possible, πιννωνᾶ will be the genitive of a word πιννωνᾶς, also an unexampled word, but one which appears correctly formed. The strange genitive in -ᾶ follows correctly a usage in Byzantine Greek in names of trades ending in -ᾶς.