Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

Friday, Sept. », 1M1 race Seventeen THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE JOYOUS GREETINGS • • Gay Atlanta “The Weekly Amusement Magazine” OUR CORDIAL NEW YEAR GREETINGS D'Arcy Electric Company Doing Business as “SMALLWOOD ELECTRIC CO.” 543 Plum St., N. W. ATLANTA 13, GA. JA. 4-4766 Joyous Greetings Cinderella Beauty Salon m 5-3072 778 N. Highland Ave., N. E. ATLANTA, GA JOYOUS NEW YEAR GREETINGS Cherokee Plumbing & Heating Co. 2945 PEACHTREE ROAD., N. E. ATLANTA, GA. CEdar 3-8893 — CEdar 3-1175 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 WIPING CLOTHS "A WIPER FOR EVERY PURPOSE” New Mills Ends - Remnants Wiping Waste - Wiping Rags QUICK CITY-WIDE DELIVERY SERVICE JAckson 2-5707 SUPREME SALES CO. 454 NORTH SIDE ML, N. W. ATLANTA It. GA. 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 Joyful New Year Holidays RHODES BAKERY 1783 Cheshire Bridge Road, N.E. TR. 6-3783 Atlanta, Ga. (Extending (jreetinyA CorMJ to y°u an J Vfc ours Marsh Business College 322 Ivy St., N. E. Atlanta, Ga. JAckson 5-6813 Seasons Greetings * BROADVIEW PLAZA SHOPPING CENTER 2581 Piedmont Road, N.E. Atlanta, Georgia