Monthly Archives: March 2012

The New American Haggadah

Posted on March 20, 2012 by zjb

I was very surprised. I was expecting something much more self-indulgent and perhaps a little cute. But I was wrong. This is a bare, naked Haggadah. The Hebrew text, Nathan Englander’s gorgeous English translation, and the graphic design work of … Continue reading →

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Posing (Cindy Sherman and the Art of Becoming Judaism)

Posted on March 19, 2012 by zjb

(Cindy Sherman at MoMA) To write about Cindy Sherman and Judaism is sort of like the old joke about the elephant and the Jewish problem. But here we go. What Sherman’s work is able to visualize is that old saw, … Continue reading →

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Spring Buds (Ephemera)

Posted on March 19, 2012 by zjb

  I like how the bud clasps onto the twig. I like here the interface between the natural and the urban. But I can’t square under a single concept the first spring buds with politics and the problem of suffering. … Continue reading →

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The Queen is Dead, Long Live the Queen (Gender, Stress, & Subjectivity in the Art of Cindy Sherman)

Posted on March 19, 2012 by zjb

  Cindy Sherman, Untitled  #463 http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2012/cindysherman/gallery/audio/4-463.php.  A joke for Dana Barnea: I like this picture a lot because “they” remind me of Syracuse University. I went to see the blockbuster Cindy Sherman retrospective at the Momo this past week. I … Continue reading →

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Funniest Yiddish Joke (Life after Death)

Posted on March 18, 2012 by zjb

  From Michael Zank: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmGoSSNLACc&feature=youtu.be It’s really terrific! (Sorry. Still havn’t figured out how to post video)

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“After Jews and Arabs: Remaking Levantine Culture”

Posted on March 18, 2012 by zjb

Levant Fair, Tel Aviv, 1934 (http://www.middle-east-pictures.com/middle-east/Levant-fair-1934-Aviv-002.htm)   Just read Ammiel Alcalay’s After Jews and Arabs: Remaking Levantine Culture. Published in 1993 ahead of its time, I can’t think of a more timely meditation from some time ago for anyone today … Continue reading →

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A Jewish Philosophy “Assemblage”

Posted on March 16, 2012 by zjb

This too is an “assemblage.” Jean Baudrillard, Impossible Exchange Daniel Matt, God & the Big Bang Rosi Braidoti, Nomadic Theory Simon Critchley, The Faith of the Faithless Jonathan Safran Foer and Nathan Englander, New American Haggadah David Chalmers, The Character … Continue reading →

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Buff Brick Synagogue (Aesthetic Judaism)

Posted on March 16, 2012 by zjb

  These pictures are from inside one of my favorite places in New York, Anschei Chesed, a now liberal egalitarian congregation, with deep historical roots in the 19th century German immigration. AC was founded in 1829. The new site was … Continue reading →

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There Goes the Neighborhood II (The New Science Building at Columbia University)

Posted on March 15, 2012 by zjb

Am not sure why Columbia Univ. didn’t name the new science building “The Future Mrs. X.” Right now, they’re calling it The New Science Building. No doubt they left the name open until a suitable donor comes by after whom … Continue reading →

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Columbia University & Manhattanville (There Goes the Neighborhood)

Posted on March 15, 2012 by zjb

  I’m on spring break and had some time to kill. Went to take a walk in Manhattanvile, a little patch just north of W. 125 where Columbia University plans to build a large annex-campus. In the greater scheme, it’s … Continue reading →

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