By Dalya Eichler, Staff Writer
Jewish art is unique and timeless. It represents our people’s history, struggles, triumphs, traditions and emotions. Recently, Yeshiva University has been generously donated $20 million worth of Jewish art from the 1800s and on by Jack and Marilyn Belz. The Belz gallery is a new space where you can walk through time and experience the beginnings and continuation of Jewish art. While not all pieces are made by Jewish artists, each one features something inherently Jewish, whether that be Biblical stories, traditional themes, or the story of Israel’s establishment as a state.
Jack Belz and his wife Marilyn, who live in Tennessee, have been collecting Jewish art throughout their entire marriage. You may recognize the last name, and that’s because Jack’s father started the Belz School of Music, where many students learned cantorial praying. The couple has amassed around one thousand pieces of art, all of which they have donated to Yeshiva University. Currently, two hundred of these pieces are on display at the Belz Gallery in Furst Hall, and over time, all one thousand pieces will be rotated. Thanks to this significant gift from the Belz family, Furst Hall will soon be renamed the Belz Building.
I had the privilege of visiting this gallery recently to write this review for the YU Observer. I spent almost two hours immersed in the experience, and it was absolutely wonderful. The art encompasses numerous aspects of Judaism, offering something recognizable, interesting, and beautiful to every visitor. The Judaica pieces are magnificent and intrinsically detailed. While observing the biblical pieces, I found myself reflecting on the stories behind the pieces, asking myself questions about them that stemmed from all that I have learned about such stories.
A couple displays in the gallery really caught my eye. One of them was a huge Pesach seder table. It was set perfectly as if one could step inside and begin dinner. Every piece was silver with gold embellishments, and on many pieces there were beautifully detailed paintings describing the Pesach story and Haggadah. The fish fork looked as if it were a mini trident with a fin, and there weren’t regular old wine glasses at each seat, but regal and unique goblets. Now I firmly believe every Pesach seder is not really complete unless it has regal goblets for wine. Seeing this display brought me back to my own Seders, and how each table I’ve witnessed is so unique. It reminded me that although there have been hundreds of Seders over many generations, and each with its own flair and touch, ultimately, this will always be a recognizable Pesach Seder table. In the context of the museum, being able to experience the table now as a work of art and not simply a ritual process, really enhanced my relationship with how I view tradition and mitzvot.
Another display that caught my eye was the array of Daniel Kafri’s sculptures. At first, I was interested in the gallery’s discussion about whether it is permissible for the art to have the three-dimensional faces or if this could be considered as idols. Then, when I went to look at each piece, many of the sculptures depicted the avos (forefathers), and I couldn’t help but notice how each was wearing tefillin. Examples include, Akedas Yitzchak (the sacrifice of Isaac), the Malachim visiting Avraham, and many others. Viewing these pieces brought up teachings I have learned of the possibility that all the Avos practiced all of the Torah. At first, I saw the pieces as distancing me from my ancestors, seeing them in their Biblical time with a more modern twist of tefillin. Then my perspective quickly switched, and I realized that when I think of their stories, there is more than a singular way they could have looked. The Avos could very well have been exactly as these pieces depicted them to be, and suddenly, I felt closer to their stories than before.
These are just a few of many displays that I looked at in wonder and thought. I am interested in the arts, and always have been, but for anyone who isn’t, they would still gain a lot from visiting. It speaks to the story of our people.
Perusing the gallery as an artist introduced me to a lot of new perspectives I hadn’t thought much of before. To me, art usually consists of creating something new, or refashioning something old. Sometimes, it’s viewing something constant in a new light. The Belz Gallery allowed me to notice that although art is all of those things, it is also recognition and connection, a story of familiarity. It isn’t just looking at a new creation and finding meaning, but finding meaning in what one knows so close, it is home. Viewing each piece was like visiting an old friend. It was seeing stories and experiences from my past in a new perspective. That my story, my people’s story, our large experiences documented to the small memories made at home, are art. The special uniqueness of art at this gallery is looking at every piece and understanding what it is all about, because it is a mirror of one’s entire being.
The Belz Gallery is a walk through time. A time that is inherently ours. A time that is everlasting. On the wall of the Belz Gallery reads, “The Belz Collection thus serves as a microcosm for the complex historical changes which accompanied the Jewish transition to modernity (1800–1945) and post–modernity (1945–2000): the entry of Jewish artists into the fine art academies of Europe, the rise of Zionism, the tragic loss of Jewish cultural life in the Holocaust, and the emergence of the modern State of Israel as an important center of Jewish artistic production.”
For anyone looking for ways to experience more of YU’s perks on campus, learn about our history not just as people but as creators as well, view some magnificent art, or simply have a free and fun activity to do in New York, I highly recommend stopping by the Belz gallery.
Photo Credit: Yeshiva University