Introduction

To every thing there is a season, and
a time to every purpose under heaven.

            –Ecclesiastes 3:1

             When the organizers were searching for a title to express the theme of our exhibition, Claudia Fechter proposed this quotation from the Book of Ecclesiastes. The verse encapsulates the relation of Jewish ritual observances to the cycle of seasons and to the cyclical events of human life. The objects illustrated and discussed in this catalog, on loan from many Cleveland collections, all have some ritual significance, and all have a time and place in Jewish life as the seasons progress through their annual cycle.

            The book of Ecclesiastes is read during the fall harvest festival of Sukkot. Cleveland sculptor David E. Davis created The Sukkah, (Cat. 85) representing a temporary shelter used for the festivities of Sukkot, as a key image for this exhibition.

            Four years have passed since we embarked upon this project, and as it has grown and developed, we have faced the verity of Ecclesiastes. Everything, including the process of creating an exhibition, has its time and place, and all human endeavor is bound to cycles of the natural world. As one of the organizers of the exhibit, I participated in all the stages of its planning. The following essay is a record of the process and an acknowledgment of the many individuals and organizations that contributed to its realization.

            Alan Weissberg’s life completed its cycle in the course of planning this exhibit. To his memory I dedicate this essay.

Fall 1996