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‘Progressive but Orthodox’
Art classes may study
David, Mary and nudes
by Carl Alpert
HAIFA—“Thou shah not make
unto thee a graven image, nor any
manner of likeness of anything
that is in heaven or that is in the
earth beneath...." The Biblical
commandment has often been
cited as reason for the relatively
poor development of artistic
expression among Jews through
the ages, in contrast, for example,
to literary creativity. Yet even
religious interdict against images
or likenesses did not always apply.
Our very religious ancestors did
not hesitate to resort to art to
decorate their synagogues, as
evidenced by the mosaic floors
found in many parts of Israel,
where images of human beings and
animals alike were reproduced.
The famous Third Century
Dura Europos synagogue in Syria
contained colorful murals
depicting Bible stories. Through
the centuries it has become
common to use illustrations to
decorate the pages of the Passover
Haggada.
One devoutly religious rabbi
who enjoyed artistic creativity
once explained to me how he
reconciled his work with the
Biblical injunction. He had
consulted a great scholar who had
advised him that so long as his
work contained patent imperfec
tions or distortions, so that the
figure he was reproducing did not
exist, either in heaven or on the
earth below, he was not in
violation of the commandment.
In recent months a controversy
has developed in one of the
modern religious schools in Israel
with respect to the teaching of art.
Yigal Cross, director of art
instruction at the progressive but
orthodox Beit Zeirot Mizrachi
School in Tel Aviv, sought to
broaden the art classes for the girls
enrolled at the school. He
maintained that the proper
teaching of art, and the history of
art, could not exclude any aspect
of the subject, even those which
dealt with nudity, or with
Christian religious themes, so
predominant in certain periods of
the history of art.
Are these suitable subjects for
study by nice Jewish girls, or is
history to be selective, Gross
asked, and he answered the
question himself. It is impossible
to be exclusive; the test should not
be in the intrinsic subject matter,
but in the attitude towards it. In
the modern world one can not
close his eyes to the human body,
whether in the movies, television,
billboards or lingerie advertising.
And the human body cannot be
excluded from art classes. It is up
to the teacher, Gross maintained,
to inculcate proper attitudes and
understanding of the subject—
whether of nudes or of
Christological themes.
It is not surprising that these
unorthodox views drew prompt
response from paternalistic elders.
Among others, Hayim Basok, vice
mayor of Tel Aviv representing the
religious bloc, differed vehemently.
He granted the right of individuals
to do as they like, but a religious
school, catering to girls whose
parents expect certain moral
standards, must set its own
criteria. The injection of
Christological subjects, and of
what he called pornography, into
the curriculum of the impression
able young girls is contrary to the
kind of education they are
supposed to get.
It is interesting to note that this
past summer the Jewish Museum
in New York, which is under
Conservative auspices, deleted 19
works from an exhibit by David
Aronson because “a display of
Christological paintings at the
Jewish Museum would be
offensive to the Jewish
Community....”
It remains to be seen if the art
classes at Beit Zeirot Mizrachi this
coming year will have opportunity
to study Michaelangelo's David,,
or the florid nudes of Goya, or the
Virgin Mary fondling the young
Christ child.
Peace pilot pitches on TV
TEL AVIV (JTA)—Abie Nathan, the self-styled peace pilot
and peace navigator, has found a new cause for his untiring energy
and humanitarian feelings. He is devoting himself to helping the
Cambodians. His moving appeal last weekend on Israeli TV
resulted in many calls from doctors and nurses who said they were
ready to go to Cambodia to help the needy.
Levis
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P«g« 7 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE October 19, 1979