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Friday, Sept. », 1M1
race Seventeen
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
JOYOUS GREETINGS
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“The Weekly Amusement Magazine”
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Is There Jewish Art?
By Rene Shapshak
A WFP KoAh Hashanah Feature
The author of this article is a noted sculptor whose
creations are exhibited in numerous art galleries through
out the world. In 1955 his works were exhibited in the
Security Council Lounge of the United Nations. —Editor
prominence. Today some of the
world’s greatest artists are Jews.
The ancient Hebrews never
allowed themselves to be influ
enced by the religious art Egypt,
Greece or Rome. They had al
ways been opposed to the idea
of representing the human form
in any of the arts. The reason
for this was simple: the Torah
prohibited the making of graven
images—a worship freely prac
ticed by the surrounding pagans.
In ancient Egypt the carvingB
were mostly of a descriptive na
ture—or illustrative of the Egyp
tian religious worship. In Athens
and Rome, the many gods them
selves held first place in all the
artistic creations.
The ancient Hebrews, while
eschewing imagery, were great
lovers of the arts that portrayed
the beauty of flowers and fruits
and even some animals, such as
oxen and birds.
The greatest example in origi
nal art work of the greatest kind
we have in the Tabernacle which
housed the Ark—in itself a won
derful artistic creation.
One of the first really great
artists appearing on the ancient
Hebraic scene was Bezalel after
whom a modern art school has
been named in Israel. Exodus
chapters 35,36.37 and 38 deal
with this artist’s great works.
Verses 30-35 of chapter 35 read:
"And Moses said unto the
children of Israel, See, the Lord
hath called by name Bezalel, the
son of Uri, the son of Hur, of
the tribe of Judah. And He hath
filled him with the spirit of God,
in wisdom, in understanding,
and in knowledge, and in all
manner of workmanship. And to
devise skillful works, to work
in gold, and in silver, and in
brass, and in cuttings of stone
for settings, and in carving in
wood, to work in all manner of
skillful workmanship. And He
hath put in his heart that he
may teach, both he, and Oholiab,
the son of Ahisamach, of the
tribe of Dan. Them hath He fill
ed with wisdom of heart, to work
all manner of workmanship, of
the craftsman, and of the skill
ful workman, and of the weaver
in colors, in blue, in purple, in
scarlet, and in fine linen, and of
the weaver, even of them that
do workmanship and of those
that devise skillful works.”
Because very little has been
unearthed archeologically to
prove that the Hebrews had
played a vital role in art work,
critics have unjustly charged
that the ancient Jews had no
ability for art.
However, as we have seen
above, Israel’s whole history,
from the very beginning to mod
ern times, is linked with artistic
creations.
Of course, the long exilic
period did not give Jews much
opportunity to express them
selves in art. It was only when
the emanicipation from the ghet
to came about in the 18th cen
tury that their names rose into
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Returning to biblical times,
one must not overlook the great
artistic d«ign« which marked
every aspect of the glory of the
First Temple blueprinted by
David for Solomon to build.
Thus, on the basis of the above,
there is every reason to believe
that art was not only permitted,
but, as we have seen, encouraged
by the Hebrew prophets.
The savage and barbaric tra
dition of Greco-Roman art, which
has been so greatly extolled by
Western art critics and so much
written about in the past several
centuries and which has been ac-
cepted by most of the civilized
world as great art—waa stub
bornly rejected by the Hebrew
Bible.
isaoe
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