Monthly Archives: March 2016

Jesus, President Obama & Bernie: The Messianic, American Politics, and a Sense of Humor

Another excellent post by Menachem Feuer, this one on Sanders, the messianic, and, of course, the schlemiel.

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Rat and Bear (Peter Fischli & David Weiss)

On view at their retrospective at the Guggenheim, Peter Fischl and  David Weiss’ film Least Resistance is a murder mystery that follows the antics of Rat and Bear, two louche art snobs out and about in Los Angeles.  

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CFP (Franz Rosenzweig Society) (Rome)

International Congress of the Franz Rosenzweig Gesellschaft – Call for Papers The conjunction “and” in Franz Rosenzweig’s work: I and the Other, philosophy and theology, time and redemption, Judaism and Christianity In his Introduction to Hermann Cohen’s Jüdische Schriften (Berlin, 1924) … Continue reading

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“Feel the Bird” – Birds, Saints, Rabbis, Animation, and Bernie

Feeling the Bird feeling the Bern, Menachem Feuer weighs in on animals and this strange theo-political moment. One more reason to shy away from this like from a plague or messianic madness.

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Polin Museum Rising From the Rubble (Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett at Syracuse)

Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett is this year’s Rudolph Lecturer hosted by the Jewish Studies Program at Syracuse University.      

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Rowdy Shushan Purim Night (Brooklyn)

I was privileged to join up with the amazing musicians of the Neshomo Orchestra for their Shushan Purim gig at a very famous  Haredi high-school yeshiva in Brooklyn. The yeshiva builds a stadium pit with a long table along the entire … Continue reading

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Rowdy Life (Baroque Purim)

Marc Epstein describes this Esther scroll (probably German, ca. 1700) as a “folksy Baroque style.” Busy, crowded, full of life and charming architectural features, the illumination captures the rowdy urban milieu of the story. It’s a little like Where’s Waldo?. The … Continue reading

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(BDS) UC Regents Report (Free Speech & Intolerance on Campus)

The regents of the University of California passed today the “Regents Policy: Principles Against Intolerance.”  It is a circumspect statement condemning anti-Semitism while upholding in no uncertain terms the principles of free and critical speech. Instead of muddling into the … Continue reading

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(A Throw of the Dice) Gothic Purim (Regensberg Pentateuch)

Queen Esther and Ahashverosh, the hanging of Haman and sons, and the triumph of Mordechai –no cheerful image this, this gothic illumination from the Regensberg Pentateuch (1300). The image is reproduced in the sumptuously illustrated Skies of Parchment, Seas of … Continue reading

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Purim

Check out this terrific blog site. It combines super short and sharp commentaries on the Torah portions + gorgeous images drawn from across the entire canon of western art –Renaissance, Baroque, modern, and contemporary.

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