Nostalgia Sunday – Chanukah menorahs of Italy
Filed under: Art, design, education, Entertainment, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Nostalgia Sunday, Religion, Travel
Jerusalem’s U. Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art is a small gem of a museum whose collection pertains to Jewish life in Italy from the Middle Ages through the present. House in the same building as the Conegliano Italian-Jewish Synagogue, the Museum is well worth a visit, particularly during this month’s Hamshushalaim 2011 celebrations, when it is open to the public free of charge every Thursday night through to the end of December.
The permanent collection includes Renaissance and Baroque arks of the Torah and religious objects. According to the museum website, “The period during which Jewish art in Italy expanded and flourished extends from the end of 15th century till the end of the 19th century, with the most remarkable handicrafts dating from the Renaissance and Baroque period.”
“These were brought from Italy to Israel in the 1960s by Dr. Umberto Nahon… These rare items were found in deserted synagogues that belonged to communities which had completely lost their members. They were kept in spaces adjacent to the synagogue until 1982, when the Museum was officially recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Science and Sport and was opened to the public. through a joint initiative in collaboration with the Jewish communities of Italy and Israel.”
Among the ritual objects are antique and rare Chanukah menorahs. “The lamps are made of silver or brass; they are richly decorated with images of animals, Jewish symbols or motifs inspired by Italian architecture. One the lamps lamp’s design, for instance, clearly recalls the characteristic shape of Firenze’s [Florence's] Palazzo Vecchio and of Siena’s Palazzo Pubblico (both built in the 14th century). The 17th century Italian Jew that created this lamp, could not certainly even imagine that his creation will be eventually exposed in Jerusalem…”
A typical feature of Italian Jewish art is the fusion of ancient and traditional motifs… with the prevailing style of the period…” Because Jews were prevented from working as artisans, “most of the objects were commissioned to non-Jewish artisans that were influenced by their personal taste and skills.”
“Helmets of Austrian soldiers were turned into beautiful Chanukah lamps after the battles of the 18th century. The helmets were made from brass, which was perfectly suited for the lamps, as candlelight reflects beautifully from them.
“The most important metal utilized in the fabrication of the different handicrafts is silver. During the 18th century this was due mainly to the decrease in the price of this metal, but also because it was the favorite material of the European bourgeois in the same period.”
The Museum also operates a Center for the Restoration of Wood and Textiles which specializes in detailed restoration of objects dating from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The specialists, trained in Italy and around the world, use the same techniques as those used during the Renaissance period.
This past year, the center invited to public to observe a wood restoration project of a rare gilded 16th century Italian Holy Ark and a textile restoration project of an embroidered silk, velvet and gold Torah binder from the late 17th century — hopefully, the “live viewing” project will be continued in 2012.
Hamshushalaim 2011 runs for the next two weeks. In addition to free museum entry every Thursday night, there are live musical performances at little or no cost at various locations around the city — including concerts in the Italian Museum newly restored Fresco Room.
Foto Friday – Israel in 3D
Filed under: Art, design, Entertainment, Foto Friday, Picture of the Week, Technology, Travel
We’ve written before about 19th century stereoscopic images of the Holy Land. The 20th century version was the ViewMaster (more on that another day) and the anaglyph, popularly known as 3D vision.
Anaglyph images provide a stereoscopic effect when viewed through glasses with two different colored lenses. The technology is enjoying a 21st century comeback due to Photoshop and other programs that allow people to easily create anaglyph images and post them online. So, get your red and cyan spectacles on! It’s time to view the sights and sounds of the Holy Land in three dimensions!
There’s been a resurgence in anaglyph movies as well. Production company Highlight Films provides a range of services to facilitate and manage TV, film and video productions, including researchers, production fixers, camera crews, HD cameras and equipment, location scouting, personnel and, of course, 3D film and video. Enjoy.
3D HD landscapes of Israel
3D Dead Sea 7 Wonders
3D Jerusalem
International photographers looks for other angles in Israel
Filed under: A New Reality, Art, education, General, Israeliness, Travel
Rosalind Solomon is one of the photographers taking part in the six-month project, (New York Times)
French photographer Frederic Brenner, who spent 25 years documenting Jewish life around the world for his book “Diaspora,” initiated the project. According to Isabel Kershner’s story in the New York Times, Brenner raised $3.5 million from a consortium of more than 60 almost exclusively Jewish donors and foundations in the United States and Europe.
Brenner said that the impetus was the Second Intifada when he was “very sad to see how Israel was being portrayed. We were in a binary paradigm — for and against, victim and perpetrator. There was such a lack of complexity in describing this place.”
Brenner was able to invite 11 acclaimed photographers, including Jeff Wall from Canada and Thomas Struth from Germany, and the end result is unknown – there’s no mandate to make Israel look ‘good,’ according to Brenner. We’ll know in about two years, when a traveling exhibition exhibition opens with a catalog of all the artists’ work and a digital offering.
For some it was their first time in Israel. Most came with a keen awareness, if only from newspaper headlines, of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Several said they found being here difficult.
Josef Koudelka, a Czech photographer who recorded the Soviet invasion of Prague in 1968, has been photographing the high concrete wall that makes up the Jerusalem section of Israel’s West Bank barrier. Though he is not a political person, he said, “it is not easy for me in this country. I don’t see things that make me very cheerful.”
He said he was focusing on “the crime against the landscape, in the most holy landscape for humanity.”An American photographer, Rosalind Solomon, the oldest of the group at 81, began shooting portraits in the Palestinian city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. She was a few minutes away when Juliano Mer Khamis, a famed Israeli-Palestinian actor and theater director, was gunned down by a masked Palestinian in the city’s refugee camp in April.
“I just feel the turbulence,” she said. “I think on both sides people are very affected by the climate they are living in.”
The group – which is also visiting places like the Negev and the Weizmann Institute of Science, also includes Wendy Ewald, an American conceptual artist and educator; Martin Kollar from Slovakia; Jungjin Lee from South Korea; Stephen Shore from New York; and Nick Waplington, a Briton who has been focusing on settlers. They’ve also been hearing lectures – and giving their own – sessions at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.
It will be interesting to see what they decide to focus on – falling back to the clichés of the conflict – or exposing the other Israel that’s waiting to be discovered.
Nostalgia Sunday – Riding the waves
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, education, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture, Profiles, Social Justice, Sports, Travel, War
Israel’s Lee Korzits won the gold medal this past weekend at the Sailing World Championships in Perth, Australia. Her achievement, along with Gal Fridman’s Olympic gold medal and Shahar Zubari’s bronze, is remarkable on its own. Even more so, given how new pro surfing is to our young country. And, like most things Israeli, it started with a dream.
Before surfboards arrived on our shores, there was the hasakeh, a sort of platform on which lifeguards would stand and paddle. Used from at least the 1930s onwards, there are several theories as to how this banana-shaped wood vessel came into being: one that it was used by Arab fishermen, another that it was based on a 1926 design by legendary surfer Tom Blake.
Its use by the Israeli Navy was immortalized in song in 1972.
Hasakeh
Riding the waves on a hasakeh, however, was not surfing. According to an online essay about the History of Surfing in Israel, that began with Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz, an American surfer and physician visited Israel in 1956. Wikipedia states that he volunteered for the Israeli army during the Suez Canal crisis but was rejected. Nonetheless, during his year-long stay, he found happiness on the beaches of Tel Aviv where he conceived of a dream: to found the first Olympic surfing team from the young state of Israel. Paskowitz imported six long-boards imprinted with the Israeli flag and began scouting the beach for potential talent and for someone to manage the project.
“…he arrived on Frishman Beach, [where] he found a lifeguard named Shamai Kancepolsky, also known as Topsea, and presented the idea to him. Says [Topsea's son] Nir Almog, ‘There was an immediate chemistry between them and my father decided to take on the project.’
‘At that time, lifeguards caught waves using hasakehs alone. Dorian gave them lessons and slowly, the lifeguard booth gang began surfing. In those days, [before breakers were built] Israel had high waves that broke on the shore itself… and going into the sea to surf was considered an act of bravery bordering on insanity…”
“A few years passed and the gang gained experience… but there was still no Israeli representation abroad. Dorian [Paskowitz] returned a second time, bringing a load of surfboards with him that were distributed among the new members.”
“Nir Almog adds, ‘In the Sixties, a huge storm damaged the storeroom where the surfboards were stored, and broke some of them to bits. After that, my dad decided to restore one of the big ones and shortened it to 1.80 meters. I was the only one in Israel with a shortboard.”
“In the early Seventies, a paratrooper commander by the name of Yair told Topsea that the army used a material — a aerated plastic called polyurethane foam — made by a company in Haifa. The material was similar to that used to make surfboards. Yair raised the possibility of manufacturing surfboards made of this material… Topsea and Nir began trying to design surfboards… and began a small surfboards producing industry. Most were rented out, and so a new generation entered into surfing…”
Topsea managed a small workshop on Hilton Beach and, along with renting out Hasakehs, designed surfboards. He, his wife Naomi — Israel’s first female surfer — and their children, all became lifelong surfers.In 1977, son Nir founded Almog Surfboards, Israel’s first pro surfboard company. Topsea co-founded the Israel Surfing Association in 1986.
The sport has continued to grow in popularity; according to the Encyclopedia of Surfing, “Israel is home to about 15 surf shops and 10,000 surfers”.
Paskowitz, by the way, gave up practicing medicine to become a professional surfer. He and his family founded and run Surf Camps and are known as The First Family of Surfing. In August 2007, he founded Surfing 4 Peace together with his son David (along with Israeli surfer Arthur Rashovan and eight-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater) to deliver surfboards to the surfing community in Gaza.
A wonderful online photo archive, can be found at the Topsea Israel Surfing Center website. Topsea’s youngest son Orian runs the center, carrying on the tradition and legacy of his father. The Center also hosts a YouTube channel where there are more videos about the legendary Shamai “Topsea” Kancepolsky and the history of surfing in Israel.
Famous folks in the land
Filed under: Blogging, Entertainment, Food, General, Israeliness, Life, Movies, News, Pop Culture, Travel, tv
That's Mary Lynn in the center, gray sweater and oxfords
Bike-riding in the Arab shuk
And in front of Bayit Bagalil
Subscribe
Subscribe to Israelity via email:
Social Media
Categories
- A New Reality
- Art
- Blogging
- Business
- coexistence
- Crime
- design
- education
- Entertainment
- Environment
- Food
- Foto Friday
- General
- health
- History and Culture
- Holidays
- Immigrant Moments
- Israeliness
- Life
- Medical Breakthroughs
- Movies
- Music
- News
- Nostalgia Sunday
- Picture of the Week
- Politics
- Pop Culture
- Profiles
- Religion
- Science
- Social Justice
- Sports
- Technology
- Travel
- tv
- War
The Face of Israel Today
-
About Israelity
Free newsletter
Stories from ISRAEL21c.orgPopular Posts