Monthly Archives: February 2014

Postwar American Synagogues — Judaism at the Suburban Frontier

Posted on February 28, 2014 by zjb

Reading Susan Solomon’s book on The Jewish Architecture of Louis I. Kahn, I suddenly understand something else about all those postwar suburban space-ship synagogues. Many of them were built by and include works  by the best and brightest of that … Continue reading →

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Louis Kahn & Abraham Joshua Heschel (Synagogues & Sabbath) (Architecture & Light)

Posted on February 27, 2014 by zjb

Just read for class Susan G. Solomon’s Louis I. Kahn’s Jewish Architecture: Mikkveh Israel and the Midcentury American Synagogue. As the title and subtitle indicate, the book pivots around the designs for Kahn’s unrealized Mikveh Israel project for Independence Mall … Continue reading →

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Eye and Mind and Flesh (Merleau-Ponty)

Posted on February 26, 2014 by zjb

I just taught for the second time Merleau-Ponty’s two major essays on painting. The first one, “Cezanne’s Doubt” was written in 1945 and is typically seen as a complement to Merleau-Ponty’s completed opus from the same time, The Phenomenology of … Continue reading →

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Blot Out His Name — Baruch Goldstein

Posted on February 25, 2014 by zjb

Death and destruction, 20 years ago, on the holiday of Purim, Baruch Goldstein slaughtered 29 people at prayer, desecrating the divine image. About Hebron today and the devastation wrought, you can read here at +972.  

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American Jewish Thought Looney Tunes Modern(ist) Landscape (1950)

Posted on February 25, 2014 by zjb

I finally decided to include something on postwar American synagogue architecture, using Susan G. Solomon’s Louis I. Kahn’s Jewish Architecture as a platform with which to juxtapose the philosophical-theological thought of Abraham Joshua Heschel and Joseph Soloveitchik. With the recent … Continue reading →

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New York City Harlem Walk (Elegant)

Posted on February 24, 2014 by zjb

Out and about with M. on her favorite walk between Morningside Ave. and Frederick Douglas Blvd. between 113th and 120th Sts. This is Harlem grand style well into its gentrification, swankly marked out by park lawn and brownstones, churches and … Continue reading →

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Delmore Schwartz (Monstrous Children & Dreary People)

Posted on February 24, 2014 by zjb

  When Lou Reed died, I read in an obituary, I think in the Syracuse University student paper or at the Daily Forward, about how he had studied English there with Delmore Schwartz. It was a name with which I … Continue reading →

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George Washington Bridge (Lights)

Posted on February 23, 2014 by zjb

Trying to cross the George Washington Bridge on the way home last week, stuck in traffic. I like how the beams and railings structure the delicate little lights that hang on the bridge and the big lights of the city … Continue reading →

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Delaware River Viaduct

Posted on February 22, 2014 by zjb

I’ve been driving past this little bridge for years now, and always give it a special look on the way up to Syracuse on rt. 80. I’m very fond of the multiple arches, which are both simple and elegant in … Continue reading →

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Buddhist Church and Shinran Shonin (Hiroshima New York)

Posted on February 21, 2014 by zjb

I’ve walked by the rather non-descript New York Buddhist Church on Riverside Drive and W. 105th St. I don’t know how many times. I always found the statue of Shinran unremarkable. But he looked great in the snow and I … Continue reading →

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