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shippers let their voices be heard
without restraint. It might be
argued, furthermore, that the dy
namism of the traditional Baroque
style is more akin to the flamboy
ant nature of the Jew than the
austere regularity of abstract art
fathered by the Germanic Bau-
haus and the Dutchman, Piet
Mondrian.
But people do change, and to
day's community leader is very
unlike his grandfather who was
born in Europe. He and his wife
have American manners, outlook,
aesthetic principles and just as,
all over the country, the drift is
towards big windows, light-colored
walls, and simple furniture, so
the tendency is to convert temples,
not into churches or museums (as
the malicious maintain), but into
places very much like modern and
comfortable middle-class homes. If
the glass from which Scotch and
soda is drunk at social gatherings,
is an elegant product of unobtrus
ive 20th century craftsmanship,
why should the kiddush cup be
an overdecorated imitation of an
18th century piece? The modern
eye that eschews useless ornament,
finds the beauty of an object in
the purity with which its material
is expressed. in the form that,
moulded with grace, makes the
function of the object clear.
Another argument to offer in
favor of truly contemporary arts
and crafts, as applied to Judaism
is that abstract or at least semi
abstract art more readily produces
an austere sacred atmosphere than
representational art which may
distract the worshipper’s mind
(animals, and even human figures,
are found on Jewish ritual silver
of the past more frequently than
is commonly known.) Further, the
intelligent, abstractly thinking Jew
of today does not require every pic
torial idea to be spelled out in
easily recognizable and obvious
graphic language. If an artist uses
twelve dotes, or perhaps, twelve
stars, it is clear that the Twelve
Tribes are thereby symbolized. If,
in his designs, he uses traditional
symbols, they have stronger evoca
tive power if they appear in ir
regular shapes, (for instance, the
two triangles of which the Magen
David is composed, need not be
regular in order to be effective!)
Speaking of evocating power, I
am reminded of a "Ner Tamid”
commissioned by a synagogue in
Baltimore, Maryland. Two winged
cherubim, semi-abstract in form,
float in space; from the junction of
their draped, outstretched arms,
springs a jet of flame which is re
flected in the oval, concave planes
of their faces. This work, in steel
and bronze, is poetically free, yet
retains all characteristics required
of a Perpetual Light.
A menorah for a temple in Tul
sa, Oklahoma, departs freely from
the conventional form that re
peats, with slight variations, its
prototype on the triumphal arch
of Titus in Rome. This large, free
standing menorah of Tulsa has a
gradually tapering, hollow base
which supports a wave-like curve
of metal. The seven round cups
for holding the candles are ir
regular and suggest the buds on
a tree.
For smaller objects, used in syn
agogues or homes—for instance —
Sabbath candlesticks, Ethrog or
spice boxes, kiddush or seder cups
—modern artist - craftsmen often
prefer one single sort of orna
ment, sparingly applied: Hebrew
lettering. The archaic shapes of
the Hebrew alphabet are wisely
exploited for aesthetic potential
ities, and often exciting arrange
ments are produced by imagina
tive manipulation of individual
iphers of entire words. Instead of
using a hackneyed letter form, the
artist himself freely redesigns each
letter, quite legitimately, as long
as the words themselves are intell
igible.
But the revolution in Jewish art
art applied to Judaism within
the temple of the home is not
confined to ceremonial objects.
Today, a Jewish Rip van Winkle
would barely recognize the new
prayer shawls, hallah covers, To
rah curtains, and other textiles us
ed in connection with religious
services. Here, too, new materials,
weaving techniques and formal
designs have been introduced, in
asmuch as such innovations do
not violate any taboos. In the
Ghetto period, men, as well as
women, made, with great love and
patience, Torah curtains that were
usually adorned with a wealth of
embroidered decoration, and often
mentioned the donor in elaborate
script. Modern weavers generally
avoid pearls, precious brocade,
gold and silver threads, and at
tempt to please the onlooker by
subtle color combinations, unob
trusive references to Biblical
event, and textural variations en
hancing the tactile values of the
object.
Modern synagogues haw been
least successful in the use of stain-
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