Images of Israel traveling across China

April 8, 2009 - 9:26 AM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Art, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Politics, Pop Culture, Travel 

Sally Macklef's CactusPassover in the Far East? Old news. Israelis are known for traversing the world with nothing but backpacks. It was on a trip like this that Tel Aviv’s Sally Macklef fell in love with her camera as a conduit for artistic expression.

Now Macklef’s work has come full-circle, with her images joining those of 59 other Israeli artists to form Inside Israel, an exhibition which opened at the Three Gorges Museum in the Chinese city of Chongqing in December and is set to travel to the region’s leading museums and cultural institutions for the remainder of the year.

This isn’t the first time that Israeli art is being exported to China en masse, and the exhibit comes in the context of increases in Israeli-Chinese tourist and cultural cooperation over the past year.

Macklef’s work often portrays Tel Aviv as a place where the balance of ancient life gets lost in the shuffle of today’s concrete wastelands (pictured is her disaffected work Cactus), but her Inside Israel images of Hassidim performing holiday rituals come decidedly from a place of inspiration and appreciation, as she explained recently to The Jerusalem Post:

“All this happiness fascinates me, this power of community,” Macklef explained. “I realized that when you’re not happy, you can’t believe in God.”

Inside Israel’s 180 pieces depict our country as a place where natural wonders, community, contemporary urban life, ancient ethnicities and architectural marvels can be observed, as curated by Three Gorges Museum staffer Yang Chaupang and Israeli art scenesters Doron Pollack, Iris Elhanani and Esther Dollinger.

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Foto Friday – Chabad in India

November 28, 2008 - 3:30 PM by · 4 Comments
Filed under: Foto Friday, General, Israeliness, Life, Religion 

There isn’t that much to say. Chabad Houses are known stops for Israeli backpackers on their post-army service trips. Whether in Katmandu, Bangkok or Mumbai, these are places where travelers can drop in, get a hot meal, perhaps even celebrate Passover or Sukkot with friends from home. Whatever animosity secular Israelis may hold towards the local haredi community all but vanishes when it comes to parents wanting a safe haven for their kids as they wander the big wide world. Now that sense of security has been irrevocably shattered. Here are a few images of Chabad in India from quieter times, taken from Chabad.org.
Chabad House sign in Goa, India
A sign in English and Hebrew points the way to Goa, India’s Chabad House. (Photo: Meir Alfasi)

Mumbai Chabad House exterior
School children run outside the Chabad House in the Colaba Market area of Bombay, India. (Photo: Menachem Gansbourg)

Israeli lays tfillin in Goa
One of Goa’s many Jewish visitors prays while wearing tefillin. (Photo: Meir Alfasi)

Chabadnik helps Israeli lay tfillin before days end
A Jewish man puts on tefillin in the last minutes before sunset. (Photo: Meir Alfasi)

Israelis will doubtless continue their love affair with all things Indian, and Israel’s strategic relationship with India will undoubtedly be strengthened. Chabad-Lubavitch will continue to grow. But the greater ramifications of this traumatic event — an attack on Israel and Jews, Americans, Britons, and, by extension, Western civilization — are as yet unknown.
For those wishing to give immediate help, a fund has been established in memory of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg.

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