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Winter 1997 My starting point was the Museum of Religious Art housed in the lowest level of The Temple-Tifereth Israel. Claudia Fechter, then the museum’s knowledgeable curator, gave me a tour. There was more than enough material here for my seminar students to learn about–Torah cases (tik); Torah curtains (parokhet); Torah crowns (keter), shields (tas), and finials (rimmonim); spice (besamin) boxes; Passover plates; Purim scrolls (megillot); marriage contracts (ketubbot); marriage rings; Hanukkah lamps (hanukkiot); spinning tops (dreidl); and many other objects. When I asked Claudia what she thought about an exhibition of sacred Jewish art from this and other local collections, she said a fine one could be created. Encouraged, I explained what I hoped to do by developing the fall seminar: bring together local experts who would serve as consultants for such an exhibition, begin the process of identifying collections in Cleveland, and help define the concept of such an exhibition. Not only did Claudia approve of such goals, but she also agreed to work with me as co-curator in attaining them. She suggested that we meet with Suzanne Tishkoff, curator at the Cleveland College of Jewish Studies, and Marilyn Soclof, who with her husband Ivan was a collector of Judaica. In planning such an exhibition, she added, we should strive to include Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox representatives of the Jewish community in every phase. As much as possible, the exhibit should also reflect Ashkenazi and Sephardi traditions.
Our next step
was to form an advisory committee of academics and representatives from
the community. Besides Marilyn and Suzanne, who brought her considerable
expertise regarding Jewish exhibitions and collections, those whom we
invited and who agreed to participate were Judah Rubinstein, who had
amassed a photographic archive of Jewish life in Cleveland; Nadine
Bendycki, an active member of the Jewish community; Ken Kabb, an
attorney who had long been involved with civic and social causes in
Cleveland; Lawrence Koreness, an astute businessman with an interest in
community-based art exhibitions; Rabbi Edward Sukol, the spiritual
leader of Congregation Bethaynu; Walter Leedy, who had worked closely
with the Jewish community in preparing his book; Derwood Smith, a
professor of religious studies at Cleveland State University and an
expert in ancient Biblical history; and Michael Tevesz, a Cleveland
State University geology professor who was a member of the Sacred
Landmarks Initiative of Cleveland. Before leaving his position at the
Cleveland Jewish Federation, Norm Friedman also served on the committee. Another critical issue involved putting the exhibition on the schedule of the Cleveland State University art gallery. I submitted a proposal to the gallery director, Robert Thurmer, who then reviewed it with his faculty committee and voted to recommend its approval to the art department faculty as a whole. When the faculty met, the question arose as to why Cleveland State University, a secular public institution, should stage an exhibit of Jewish art. In fact, I said, some years before, the art gallery had held several exhibitions of religious art. Among the most notable were Sacred Landmarks in 1990 and Two Traditions of Sacred Dress in 1996. In addition, Cleveland State University frequently staged art exhibitions devoted to particular ethnic and national groups. After this reminder, the faculty approved the proposal. |
