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ANNOUNCING: THE CHANUKAH PROJECT 5785

Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, begins on sunset on December 25th!

As in past years we invite all of you to share your Chanukah celebrations with us and with all of tumblr!

Starting December 25th at sundown, I'll post a picture of my menorah in the stage of lighting for each night of Chanukah! Post your Menorah for the world to see! Tag it #chanukahproject if you want me to see, and I’ll reblog a bunch of them! Can’t wait to see how you’re celebrating this year!

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Leonid Pasternak  (Ukrainian, 1862–1945) - The Torments of Creative Work

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Street scene in Galați, Romania

Romanian vintage postcard

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Jerusalem Synagogue, Prague

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Devotional Wall Plaque, 1859, Czechia. From the collections of the Jewish Museum in Prague.

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Somewhere in Czechoslovakia Color slide 1970s

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A richly illustrated miniature book of prayers, Seder Birkat ha-Mazon u-Birkhot ha-Nehenin (Grace after meals and occasional blessings), written and illustrated by Nathan ben Samson of Meseritch (Moravia), 1728

29 folios (70 x 50 mm) on parchment; written in Ashkenazic square and semi-cursive vaybertaytsh (Yiddish instructions)

The early decades of the eighteenth century witnessed a remarkable resurgence in the production of elaborately decorated Hebrew manuscripts when wealthy court Jews in Germany and Central Europe began to commission exquisitely illustrated handwritten Hebrew books as luxury items.

Miniature volumes such as this one, containing a variety of Hebrew prayers and blessings, were frequently commissioned by grooms and presented to their brides on the occasion of their marriage. An inscription penned at the top of the title page of this manuscript indicates that this book was a gift to the bride Sheynkha. The present volume comprises the texts for birkat ha-mazon (grace after meals), birkhot ha-nehenin (blessings over foods and scents), keri’at shema al ha-mittah (recitation of the Shema before retiring), and kiddush levanah (blessing for the New Moon).

The manuscript was created by Nathan ben Samson of Meseritsch, one of the most renowned scribe-artists of the eighteenth century.

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I have been concocting a new art style over the course of this year! But don’t worry, this style isn’t replacing my old one, it is actually just a secondary art style for when I feel like I want to try something different or need a different “Vibe” as it were. And today I want to present to you the first two true pieces that I completed with the finalized aesthetic!

The first piece (Left) is called “Mr. Velt-Wide” and it is meant to be a more positive or playful take on the diaspora, as I am a part of the diaspora and I quite enjoy it! The piece depicts a Jewish man wearing all black holding a suitcase with a Magen David on it, he is tipping his hat and winking at the observer, a big smile on his face, as he balances on a globe of the Earth, taking one big step from one continent to another. Behind the man is the Moon and the void of space with a few stars dotted about, and in big stylized text it says “Mr. VELT-WiDE.” The word “Velt” in Yiddish translates to “World” and is derived from the German word “Welt.”

The second piece is titled “Jewish Man 1” and is a simple portrait of a young Jewish man, he has a beard and a darkness surrounding his eyes, his styled to look old-fashioned, with one of those old-style blazer jackets with the leather elbows, I was inspired to give him this particular jacket because I rewatched Fiddler On The Roof and saw Perchik (Who’s my favourite character) wearing one. As for the rest of the outfit, the man wears a simple vintage cap, a white button-up shirt, and his pants and shoes are more stylized, coloured in black and with no separation of the pant leg and shoes. The man stands on an impressionistic, almost abstract snowy background and surrounding his head is a rather messily painted black square, he stares into the camera, a neutral, if not solemn look upon his face.

I’m quite happy with these two pieces, and with the style I have created. I would like to credit the artist Eugene Ivanov on the stock photo website dreamstime.com (Sorry for not adding the link to his page the feature is not working for me right now) and also thank him for his amazing selection of incredible Jewish art, it inspired a lot of this art style for me and his work is just leagues better than anything I could come up with myself.

I hope you like these pieces as much as I do, I’ve actually made a few more in this new style very very recently that I’m just so excited to show off so keep an eye out for that! But anyways, that will be all for today! Be well all of you, good morning, afternoon, evening, or night!

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Interior of the Łańcut Synagogue with a central Bimah, Poland

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Clarinetist in the Snow — Yosl Bergner (1920-2017), Israeli

signed in Hebrew (lower right)

oil on canvas

26 by 25 cm.

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The Newlywed — Isidor Kaufmann (1853-1921), Hungarian.

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A ‘gem’-set silver Torah crown, probably Austrian, circa 1840

the base band with Hebrew inscriptions within interlaced ribbons of red pastes, mounted above cast rosettes, the ribs also set with faceted and cabochon pastes, associated filigree crown finial

apparently unmarked except for French control mark

height 13 ½ in.

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Portrait of a Rabbi — Isidor Kaufmann (1853-1921), Hungarian.

oil on panel

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Jewish marriage ring, European, probably 19th century or later

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Gold and silver Torah crown, with diamonds, emeralds, rubies, amethysts, and turquoises, Vienna, ca. 1825

Height: 18.2 cm; width: 12.5cm  

This magnificent jewelled crown is probably from the court of the Hassidic leader Rabbi Israel Ruzhin (1797-1850). Hassidic Judaism originated in eastern Europe in the 18th century. The small size of the crown suggests that it was made for a personal Torah scroll.

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Clarinetist in the Snow — Yosl Bergner (1920-2017), Israeli

signed in Hebrew (lower right)

oil on canvas

26 by 25 cm.

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Wedding — Yosl Bergner (1920-2017), Israeli.