Holidays through Art

Israel Moshe & Dorit 08-09 001CHANUKAH

“ILLUMINATING CHANUKAH WITH ART AND TEXT”

“’LET THERE BE LIGHT AND THERE WAS LIGHT’…
AND THEN THERE WAS CHANUKAH AND CHRISTMAS”
Study of the relationship between the winter light festivals of Judaism and Christianity.

“FIGHTING FOR ISRAEL THEN AND NOW:
THE BOOKS OF THE MACCABEES AND THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES”
The story of Chanukah originates in the shocking, powerful, yet almost universally ignored Books of the Maccabees, not in the Hebrew Bible, where Chanukah is nowhere to be found. Learn about the Maccabee soldiers and the soldiers of the modern Israeli Army.

“FOUR HIDDEN REASONS FOR THE EIGHT NIGHTS OF CHANUKAH...that have nothing to do with the miracle of oil”

“A MARTYRED MACCABEAN MOTHER MURDERED:
HANNAH AND HER SEVEN SONS CHOOSE HOW TO DIE”
Mental and physical torture as an expression of Jew hate…and why Jews have survived it. 

“JUDITH: A HEAD OF HER TIME”
A heroine of Chanukah who cut off the head of Holofernes (and carried it home in a basket). See the horrifying art of Holofernes’s severed head as you study brilliant mind and strategic plan of the heroic Judith.

IMG_0725“CRAZY MENORAH ART”                                        
Why is the Menorah or Chanukiah, the most artistically diverse of all Jewish symbols?  A menorah made of ice cream cones?  A look at menorahs that can light the way to a deeper understanding of Chanukah.

“MILITARY MIGHT AND THE WILL TO FIGHT:  WHY THE CELEBRATION OF CHANUKAH IS RADICALLY DIFFERENT IN ISRAEL THAN IN THE REST OF THE WORLD”
How can one Jewish holiday be so utterly different in the Diaspora? 

“CHANUKAH AND CHRISTMAS: COUSINS THAT GLOW THROUGH HOLIDAYS THAT GROW”
What are the roots of these two major holidays and why have they become colossal commercial events?

“CHANUKAH IN THE BIBLE AND THE APOCRYPHA:  THE HEBREW ROOT THAT LIGHTS CHANUKAH’S NIGHTS MEANS BOTH ‘DEDICATION’ AND ‘EDUCATION’”
The word “chanukah” appears multiple times in the Hebrew Bible, but the holiday doesn’t.
What does “Chanukah” mean in the Bible and beyond?  In the Hebrew language, almost all roots have more than one meaning.  What is the significance of dedication and education sharing one root?

PASSOVER

Passover, Nira's egg - Version 2

“WHO KNOWS FORE?  FOREMOTHERS, FOREFATHERS, SLAVERY AND FREEDOM IN ART AND TEXT”

“ART OF THE SISTERHOOD AND THE BROTHERS THAT SAVED THE JEWISH PEOPLE”

 “THE ART OF GOING OUT:  FINDING PASSOVER—INSIDE AND OUTSIDE EXODUS”

“POTS, PANS, PLOTZ AND PLANS:  THE HAGGADAH’S HIDDEN MESSAGES”