Women at Wilshire Boulevard Temple (As Seen in the 1929 Mural Cycle by Hugo Ballin)

Los Angeles, CA. Wilshire Boulevard Temple. Warner Memorial Murals by Hugo Ballin (1929). Detail of Four Matriarchs on south wall. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2017. A better picture is here.

Los Angeles, CA. Wilshire Boulevard Temple. Warner Memorial Murals by Hugo Ballin (1929). Detail of Sarah on south wall. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2017.

Women at Wilshire Boulevard Temple (As Seen in the 1929 Mural Cycle by Hugo Ballin)

by Samuel D. Gruber

The Warner Memorial Murals by American Jewish artist Hugo Ballin are among the most spectacular works of synagogue art of the 20th century.  Ballin (1879-1956) was a classically trained painter who came of age in New York in the era of the American Renaissance (at the turn of the 20th century he was painting in the Donatello Studios in Florence, now used by Syracuse University).  In 1913 he gained fame for his extensive mural program at the Wisconsin State Capitol, but a few years later he began work as a designer for silent films, and soon moved to Hollywood and developed a successful career as art director, writer, and director of many silent films - often starring his wife Mabel Ballin. After the advent of talkies in 1927 he stopped making his own films and returned to fine art to become one of the country's leading muralists. In 1929, he was head of art at Warner Brothers and was hired to the task of decorating the new Wilshire Boulevard Temple. His  extensive historical, allegorical, and symbolic representation of Jewish history was financed by three of the Warner Brothers in memory of their siblings and parents, and was planned together with Rabbi Edgar Magnin. .  

I first saw and wrote about the murals for my 2003 book American Synagogues: A Century of Architecture and Jewish Community.  They hhave recently been meticulously conserved and restored by Aneta Zebala Paintings Conservation company as part of the larger restoration of the entire Temple, led by Brenda Levin, and the ongoing expansion of Wilshire Boulevard Temple facilities. The transformation is impressive and the murals are spectacular ... a unreeling saga in technicolor when films were still only in black and white.

Earlier this month, however, I was fortunate to have a morning to look at the murals in detail. Even more time is needed; the paintings are packed with historical vignettes, scenes, and symbols. They exhibit a wide range of design and painterly approaches and flourishes. The mural is brash and bold and executed with brio. The expressive, dramatic, and cinematic nature of the unreeling narrative was already remarked upon in 1929, and again most recently by Mackenzie Stevens, who sees the highlighting of the scenes as similar to the lighting techniques of the silent film era. New photos by Tom Bonner, published in the book Wilshire Boulevard Temple and the Warner Murals: Celebrating 150 Years by Tom Teicholz (ORO Editions, 2013, allow attention to detail that is not even possible on site where visibility of the high lunettes is still hampered by original (and inadequate) lighting. Caroline Luce also explores some aspects of the mural in her informative website about Ballin's extensive mural work in the LA area.

I look forward to writing more about the murals and other aspects of Ballin's career elsewhere, but right now I want to draw attention to just one aspect of the mural which is rarely mentioned, and that is the inclusion of many images of women in the narrative. This includes a prominent depiction of the Four Matriarchs of Judaism, shown seated as a group on the sanctuary south wall opposite the Ark and bimah, and set beneath the balcony and over the main door through which one passes on existing the sanctuary.  To my knowledge this is the first such representation of the four Matriarchs anywhere in the history of art.

Los Angeles, CA. Wilshire Boulevard Temple. Warner Memorial Murals by Hugo Ballin (1929). Detail of Rebecca on south wall. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2017

Los Angeles, CA. Wilshire Boulevard Temple. Warner Memorial Murals by Hugo Ballin (1929). Detail of Rachel  and Leah on south wall. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2017.

Today, among egalitarian Jewish congregations, the most widely accepted and popular  addition to traditional liturgy is the includion of the names of the  Matriarchs in birkat avot (the blessing of the ancestors), which opens the Amidah: "Praised are You, Adonai our God and God of our ancestors, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob [Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah], great, mighty, awesome, exalted God who bestows lovingkindness, Creator of all. You remember the pious deeds of our ancestors and will send a redeemer to their children's children because of Your loving nature."  But in 1929, I think this inclusion of the matriarchs in such a prominent prayer would have imaginable to only the most progressive Jews (perhaps one of my readers - more familiar with the history of Jewish feminism would know more about the early advocacy for this change).

The four women strike poses familiar from classical and Renaissance art.  Based on form alone, they could be Greek or Roman matrons, or even goddesses, muses, allegorical virtues, or sybils - as painted  by Ballin earlier in his career. There is nothing quite like this in Jewish art since Edward Bendemann painted The Mourning Jews in Babylonian Exile a century earlier in 1832 and now in the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, which depicts too mourning Jewish women seated next to a chained Jewish man.

Edward Bendemann, The Mourning Jews in Babylonian Exile, oil on canvas, 1832. Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne.

Hugo Ballin, The Sibylla Europa Prophesying the Massacre of the Innocents, 1906. Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Hugo Ballin, Window in Tomb, Brooklyn, NY. Architectural League Exhibition Catalogue, 1907.

Rabbi Magnin, who had much to say about many of the Patriarchs and Prophets, said nothing about the women. But Dr. Luce speculates about their significance and also finds Mabel Ballin's presence here:

Like the female figures in his early paintings, Ballin placed the Matriarchs in a pastoral setting, removed from the realities of everyday life.  Nevertheless, their positions and poses suggest aspects of their characters and experiences as "Mothers" of the nation Israel.  On the left, Sarah, the wife of Abraham, looks down, perhaps disconsolate over her long period of childlessness or over the near loss of her only child, Isaac, at the hand of his father. Rebecca, wife of Isaac and mother of Jacob and Esau, holds a pitcher representing her hospitality at the well.  Rachel, beloved wife of Jacob, opens her arms in an embracing manner.  On the right, Leah appears disconsolate as well, perhaps because she is the unloved wife of Jacob. 

Confounding any interpretation of symbolism of the women is the fact that each of the women also resembles Ballin's wife, Mabel, suggesting that this portion of the mural is in some ways an expression of his love and admiration for his wife. Indeed, soon after his marriage, some observers noted that “traces of certain singularly attractive feminine features [were] asserting themselves more and more in his canvasses,” guessing that it might be because he, “unconsciously reproduces her [Mabel's] features in his work."¹ Ballin likely felt that Mabel embodied the qualities of each of these mothers and may have aimed to honor her contributions to his household by including the "Four Mothers" in his mural.

Mabel Ballin in Motion Picture Magazine (1920 or 1921)

Mabel Ballin in Judge (Dec 11, 1920)

Full human figures were not often represented in Jewish art, but there are many more examples than usually assumed. Images of women, however, are scarce. Before the turn of the 20th century we find representations of Judith on Hanukah lamps, but few other examples. This began to change when social artists such as Maurycy Minkowski, Abel Pann and others frequently included images of women (often holding children) in scenes of refugees from pogroms. 

Maurycy Minkowski, Po pogromie (After the Pogrom), 1905. Oil on canvas. (Tel Aviv Museum of Art)

At the same time, the first generation of Zionist artists more frequently included images of Biblical women, including Judith, often in heroic poses.  Boris Schatz created a number of relief sculptures with women subjects, and around 1908 Lesser Ury painted a striking representation of Rebecca at the Well (see illustration) which bears comparison to Ballin's Rebecca at Wilshire Boulevard Temple .

Boris Schatz, A Hebrew Mother, 1904, terracotta relief, 80x50cm. From Boris Schatz Father of Israeli Art

Boris Schatz, Judith, 1905, plaster relief.  From Boris Schatz Father of Israeli Art

Lesser Ury (German, 1861-1931), Rebecca at the Well, c. 1908, oil on canvas, Stiftung Jüdisches Museum, Berlin.

Teicholz notes that prominent placement of the matriarchs reflected attitudes within the congregation, where mixed seating of men and women was first adopted in the 1860s. Women were later counted in the minyan and before the 23rd amendment granted women the vote in American governmental election, women at Wilshire were made full members with an equal vote on synagogues matters.

These four are not the only women represented in the mural - there are several other generic women shown as wives and mothers.  Women are also represented in "The Messianic Age" in the western lunette.  In the spandrels over the east arches, there are scenes representing the sacred books, and the Book of Proverbs is shown with female figures, one weaving and the other giving drink to the thirsty, representing the passage about "A Woman of Valor." The Song of Songs is interpreted as a sensual love poem rather than an allegorical one, and it is represented by a beautiful and somewhat exotic woman seen in profile at the western end of the arches. With her feather headress, bangles, and chic loose outfit dropping in vertical folds to the ground, she might have felt as at home in a 1920s Paris nightclub as on the wall of synagogue.

Likewise, the image of Beruriah, the ancient Talmud-scholar wife of Rabbi Meir, is shown as a young and comely woman, looking over her husband's shoulder - either commenting upon or guiding his work. The large full-length image of Maimonides is shown before a supplicating woman and child.

Los Angeles, CA. Wilshire Boulevard Temple. Warner Memorial Murals by Hugo Ballin (1929). Detail of Bururiah and Rabbi Meir. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2017.

In the spandrels over the west arches are scenes of Jewish festivals and women are shown at both the seder celebration and lighting the Sabbath lamp. There is a decidedly pre-modern feel to these. The hanging lamp is one of the German Judenstern type, widely recognized as a Sabbath standard by it frequent appearance in the scenes by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim in the 19th century.

Los Angeles, CA. Wilshire Boulevard Temple. Warner Memorial Murals by Hugo Ballin (1929). Detail of seder scene. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2017.

Los Angeles, CA. Wilshire Boulevard Temple. Warner Memorial Murals by Hugo Ballin (1929). Detail of Sabbath lamp lighting. . Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2017.

Romania: Radauti Synagogue Restoration

Romania: Radauti Synagogue Restoration

by Samuel D. Gruber

My sister Ruth Ellen Gruber recently reported on her Jewish Heritage Travel Blog that our ancestral synagogue in Radauti, Romania is under restoration, a process that appears to be proceeding quickly - a rare occurrence in Romania - where the Jewish community is overwhelmed with care for so many sites and is always strapped for funds.

Radauti, Romania. Synagogue interior. Photos: Ruth Ellen Gruber

I has a special fondness for the Franz Josef Synagogue - as it is known in memory of the Austrian emperor especially beloved by Bukovina Jews. Not only is it the site of my grandfather's bar mitzvah, but it is one of the first "historic" (by which I mean pre-modern) synagogues I ever visited. I was there with my parents on a trip to Romania in 1972. I was a skinny teenager with longish hair, but taller than any remaining Jew we met in the town (see picture). I remember well how one of the men who showed us the synagogue was amazed (real or feigned) over my hair.

When told I was a great-grandson of Anschel Gruber, he expressed skepticism (in part because of my hair), and said - "Well, Anshel Gruber was a very pious Jew, if you are his grandson, than read..." and he opened a siddur and stuck it in front of my face. Fortunately, my Junior Congregation and bar mitzvah Hebrew was good enough, and I passed the test.

Radauti, Romania. Two views of my visit in 1972. That's me on the bottom left, with my mother Shirley Moskowitz next to me. Note the Moorish-style horseshoe arches on the Ark and Ark wall. Photos: Jacob W. Gruber.

The next time I came to the synagogue was in the bitterly cold winter of 1978, in the company of Ruth, then UPI bureau chief in Belgrade, and Romania's chief Rabbi Moses Rosen (and retinue). Ruth and I accompanied the rabbi on his annual whirlwind Hanukkah pilgrimage to the Jewish communities of Romania. This time the old synagogue was filled with people, brilliantly lit, and filled with song from the children's choir that accompanied Rosen's roadshow. Since then much has changed in Romania - for its diminished Jewish community and for the entire country. But the synagogue still stands and is finally receiving a new lease on life. It is one of the surviving synagogues in the country deemed "operating," and by all accounts it will remain dedicated as a synagogue. How often and when it will be used is uncertain, for there are few Jews left in the area.

Radauti, Romania. Synagogue, interior decoration. The inclusion of instruments is a common occurrence in synagogues of the region - and elsewhere - illustrating the 150th Psalm. Photos: Arthur Schankler.

Poland: Rediscovered Beit Midrash in Bedzin

Bedzin, Poland. Wall painting fragment from Beit Midrash. Photo: (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Poland: Rediscovered Beit Midrash in Bedzin (ISJM) On July 17, Ruth Ellen Gruber reported in her blog about a visit to the re-discovered Beit Midrash (study house) in the Polish town of Bedzin. Located in an apartment in a non-descript apartment building, the prayer room is notable for the remains of wall paintings which have been uncovered from layers of overpaint. The paintings appear to be fairly typical for this type of decoration. From the 1890s through the 1920s a combination of Jewish symbols - mostly referring to the Jerusalem Temple - and scenes of the Holy Land (often derived from postcards) were very common for synagogues and prayer houses. Part of the popularity of these images was due to their availability in new media (books, magazines, postcards) - which were creating a new version of global Judaism. images of the Holy Land were also associated with a yearning for Zion - and this was common for both religious and secular Zionists. The scenes in synagogues, however, are always set in a Biblical time, even when, on occasion, more modern elements creep in to the depictions. The Bedzin paintings, while not particularly sophisticated, are an important addition to a the small number of preserved examples of such painting. According to Ruth Ellen Gruber:

The Prayer House is located in an upstairs apartment at Aleja Kollataja 24 -- in a building that was part of a grand complex of tenement dwellings and businesses owned by Nuchim Cukerman. You have to enter a narrow courtyard (open at one end) and climb the stairs. After World War II, the Prayer House was divided into two rooms and a kitchen, to serve as a flat. The paintings were covered over by cheap paint and stenciling. Apparently the owner always knew about the hidden murals, which became known publicly a couple of years ago, when high school students were brought in to clear off some of the over-paint with sponges and water. [This past]... March, young people in the town created a Foundation -- the Fundacja Brama Cukerman (Cukerman's Gate Foundation) -- to conserve and protect the prayer house and make it available for visitors as part of Bedzin's rich Jewish heritage. The Brama Cukerman Foundation is also placing plaques on former Jewish sites, including places of business, such as a one-time Jewish cinema house, around town, to create a heritage route.

Click here to read the complete report and see more photos. Additional photos can be seen here.

Slovakia: Grand 9-Bay Plan Stupava Synagogue gets a Facelift

Slovakia: Stupava Synagogue Gets a Facelift (and More)
by Samuel D. Gruber



(ISJM) Participants in the recent Bratislava Seminar on Care, Conservation and Maintenance of Historic Jewish Properties were treated to a visit to the grand early 19th century synagogue of Stupava (German: Stampfen; Hungarian: Stomfa), which after decades of neglect and ruin has receive a facelift thanks to the efforts of preservationist Tomas Stern, a member of the Board of the nearby-Bratislava Jewish Community (who is also a plastic surgeon).

According to Maros Borsky, Director of the Slovak Jewish Heritage Center, who organized the visit: "The synagogue was built in 1803 by a prominent Jewish Community of the pre-emancipation period that resided in a serf-town belonging to the Counts Palffy, of Stupava. From the architectural standpoint, the synagogue belongs to the most precious Jewish heritage sites in Slovakia, one of two last extant nine-bay synagogues. There has been no Jewish community in Stupava since the Second World War and the synagogue passed through various private ownerships, an eventually was in total disrepair. In the early 2000s, the synagogue was acquired by the NGO Jewrope, associated with Dr. Tomas Stern, a Bratislava-based businessman and board member of the Bratislava Jewish Community. Jewrope and Dr. Stern have managed to save the building from collapse by stabilizing the structure, replacing the roof and complete restoration of exteriors. The next planned restoration stage includes interior works, planned to be completed within next three years. The synagogue will serve then as a central archive and book storage of the Slovak Jewish community. A small exhibition of the local Jewish history is foreseen."

As an aside, I am happy to say that ISJM recognized Dr. Stern's dedication many years ago when he was still a medical student - whose weekend passion was the search for abandoned synagogues in Slovakia, which he photographed. Jewrope plans to create in the main space of the synagogue a permanent exhibition about the Jewish history of Stupava, as well as cultural and social space to serve the needs of the general public and the Jewish community.

So far, the project has received support from Jewrope, the Culture Ministry of Slovakia, The Slovak Gas Industry grant scheme, and the World Monuments Fund. Dr. Borsky and Dr. Stern arranged for the building to be included on the Slovak Jewish Heritage Route.

As the attached photos indicate, not much of the original decor of the synagogue remains, but the spas are all intact. Discussions are ongoing about what level of conservation and restoration to apply to the interior walls. Traces of at least two phases of painting can be seen - but the most plentiful and visible decorative patters probably date from the late 19th or early twentieth century. The photos also show numerous examples of old and new temporary patching used to consolidate plasterwork. These will obviously be replaced or improved upon in the final project.

The most ambitious part of the plan is to create a Jewish archive in the upper story of the building, above the vaults but under the capacious roof. This would depend on the creation of a self-supporting structure and the addition of an exterior entrance way for access and safety. Jewrope is working with architects and engineers on these plans which, in the end, will be dependent on technological feasibility (likely) and cost (still unknown).

Meanwhile, the Jewish Community of Bratislava and the town of Stupava are negotiating trying to resolve property ownership claims. The building was sold to a private individual before the restitution process began. Jewrope now owns and building, but not the land on which it sits. Resolution of land ownership needs to be completed before any large investment in infrastructure can begin for the synagogue - no matter what its future use. Dr. Stern, who rose from a sickbed to greet the seminar participants, is committed to getting the project done, and the Bratislava Community supports the effort. In time, Stupava may become again an important Jewish culture center.

Contributions can be sent to Jewrope, at Karpatská 8, 811 05 Bratislava, tel.: 02/52 45 11 12, 0905 600 873, or by contacting ISJM.

Poland: Impressions of Krakow's Kupa Synagogue

Poland: Impressions of Krakow's Kupa Synagogue
By Samuel D. Gruber




(ISJM) Not long ago I posted an historic photo of the Ark wall of the synagogue of Zhovkva (Ukraine) which showed an elaborate painting (c 1920) of Jerusalem. The image is interesting for many reasons, but I just want to point out the juxtaposition of the descriptive landscape (possibly derived from a postcard or Bonfils photo) and the symbolic elements of the ancient Temple, also represented near the Ark. The contrast demonstrates the long history of invoking the ancient Temple and Jerusalem in the synagogue, but also a shift in emphasis that began in the late 19th century and accelerated in the 20th, along with the spread of tourism and Zionism. When you start looking you’ll see all sorts of references to the temple, Jerusalem and Eretz Israel in synagogues. Some of symbolic, some are architectural, some are textual and some are representational. But after 1900 representational views become more common.
 
Some very vivid views of the Holy Land painted in 1929-30 in the Kupa Synagogue (see photos) in Krakow were restored a few years ago, and I had the opportunity to see them on my recent visit to Krakow a month ago (I want to thank my old friend Henry Halkowski for making it easy for me enter on short notice). The “restored” synagogue is difficult to understand since elements from different phases of its existence now co-exist, and because the essential elements that make a synagogue (bimah, seats, etc) are gone. The Kupa was seriously damaged during the German occupation in World War II. It was restored ca. 2000 and now serves as a lecture, concert and exhibition hall for community events and also can be rented for special occasions.

Located on a plot between Warszauera Street and Miadowa Street, the building is adjacent to the old walls of Kazimierz. It is thought that the synagogue name derives from the Hebrew world for "donation box" and that the synagogue was probably funded by donations. The Kupa was also known as the "Hospital" and "needy" synagogue because it cooperated with the Jewish hospitals and with the Jewish poorhouse.

Founded in 1643, the Kupa has been remodeled many times. The remains of the Baroque Ark can still be seen, but most other aspects of the interior date from the 19th and early 20th centuries, including unusual Gothic arches in the women's gallery. The two-story annex was added with entrance hall and washrooms in 1830-1834 and the western wing was built in the 1860s. The synagogue was connected to the adjoining building at the end of the 19th century. These annex spaces now serve the Jewish community as guest rooms.

There is much to see in the small space, and I only a short time. Four elements are worth noting here, especially since they relate to others items I have posted, or about which I plan to write.

1. First, on the south wall under the women’s gallery , the conservators have revealed part of a large wall painting of the lower part of a Menorah, flanked by painted ewers, signs of the Levites. Again, we have the Temple reference, but here it is not near the Ark. Prof. Bracha Yaniv of Bar Ilan University, an expert on Krakow Synagogue wall decorations, is writing about this image, and she points out that the Menorah is in exactly the right place in the synagogue, against the south wall just as it was in the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:35: Put the table outside the paroches, and the menorah opposite the table, toward the southern side of the mishkan. The table should be placed on the northern side). So actually this Tabernacle/Temple reference is stronger and more explicit than those synagogues which scatter images of Temple and festival implements along the East wall.

2. A second decorative element that interests me a lot is the painting around the Ark, which is a large and impressive Baroque construction. On the wall behind the projecting stone Ark is painted a large red curtain, drawn apart just above the apex of the Ark. Of course this too, can have Temple associations, since a curtain in the Temple hung before the entrance of the Holy of Holies. Here, though, the curtain is hung behind the Ark, and it is open. What does it mean? Is it an earthly curtain, intended to create the illusion of greater synagogue space? Is it a symbolic curtain, representing either Temple or perhaps the revelation of the Torah? Or perhaps is it a curtain allowing a glimpse from this world into another? It could be all these things, or none. I’m not going to decide. But since I’m looking I am seeing these curtains almost everywhere - and they are one of the favorite European (or Polish) synagogue decorative devices carried over by immigrant artists from the old world to the new. I'm still looking for some contemporary user - a rabbi or congregant - who commented on their position and use.

3. Another interesting feature of the Kupa Synagogue is a dedicatory inscription set into the introdos of the window just south of the Ark. This inscription in high relief (see photo) refers to the Society of Cohens and Levites in Krakow that donated the window in 1647. According to Eli Valley, the text reads: "This window was donated to the synagogue by the Holy Society of Cohens and Levites for the glory of God and the glory of the synagogue, for its enlightenment." The text then quotes Numbers 6:25-26, "May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you! May the Lord lift up His countenance unto you and grant you peace." The letters highlighted indicate the Hebrew year 5407 (1647). I think this inscription is a very important one as it is an early textual source in which the functional role of the window is linked to God's light (his shining face), and a general sense of enlightenment beyond the strictly physical sensation. Prof. Yaniv tells me of a very different window inscription in the Shakh (after Shabtai ben Meir ha-Kohen, known as Shakh), Synagogue in Holesov, Moravia (Czech Republic). At Holesov, the patrons and painters employed an explicit biblical text that mentioned the Temple's windows (I Kings 6:4 וַיַּעַשׂ לַבָּיִת, חַלּוֹנֵי שְׁקֻפִים אֲטוּמִים / And for the house he made windows broad within, and narrow without), and inscribed this above the windows of the synagogue.

4. Most of the painted decorations - especially those on the ceiling - date from either the late 1920s or 1930s. These depict sites in the Holy Land: Hebron, Tiberias, Jerusalem's Jaffa Gate, The Western Wall, Haifa, the terebinths (trees) of Mamre, the Flood, and the Temple Mount. The inclusion of these suggests a Zionist program, as I hinted above. The political and social situation for Jews was getting pretty bad in Poland in 1930. The Holy Land – as a spiritual and an actual retreat probably looked pretty good.

According to the Center for Jewish Art: "There are also Biblical scenes and illustrations to verses in Psalms, such as the painting showing people standing by the rivers of Babylon (Psalms 137:1-3), or musical instruments (Psalms 150:3-6). Another painting depicts Noah's ark including the figure of Noah – quite unusual since the use of human images was very rare in Jewish art. The signs of the Zodiac are painted over the women's gallery. The artist, although unidentified, was clearly professional.”

About the Restoration / Renewal

 I did not see these wall paintings before they were restored, so I cannot say how much of the work is original and how much is new painting. A comparison with published (black and white) photos from before the restoration suggest there is a lot of new work, including substantial new painting of scene or over painting of the earlier work. I have mixed feeling about this type of restoration (not conservation). On the one hand in continues (perhaps unwittingly) an old synagogue tradition of renewing wall painting by simply over painting earlier work, but often maintaining the basis of the earlier design. In some American synagogues where paint tests have been carried out as many as 2 dozen layers of paint have been found in buildings hardly more than a century old. Even in the Kupa, the older photos sow the patterns of an earlier design showing through some of the 1920s scenes. Still, with the Kupa (and with other synagogues in Poland, Ukraine and elsewhere) all normal traditions and patterns of maintenance have been broken. What remains of the pre-War years – even when in less than perfect condition takes of new meaning and added value. These are works of artist who quite likely met their deaths in the Holocaust. These are tangible remnants of a lost culture. Careful decisions need to be made about how to maintain them. Sometimes decaying plaster or flaking paint requires major new work. But more often it requires more serious thinking about what to preserve and why. The new work at Kupa is bright and vivid, perhaps as it was when first painted. A great deal of the history of the place, however is lost.

Ukraine: More Recent Books of Note

Ukraine: More Recent Books of Note

Sergey Kravtsov of the Center for Jewish Art has sent some more titles of significant new publications about Jewish heritage in Ukraine. I Invite others to send me news of publications which I will post. Apparently librarians are tuning in to this blog, and this is a good way to promote otherwise little-known and hard-to-find new books and articles. Review copies can also be sent to:

Samuel Gruber, editor
ISJM
P.O. Box 201
118 Julian Place
Syracuse, NY 13210

Sergey's recommended titles are:

-- Boris Khaimovich, The Work Our Hands to Glorify. Murals of Beit Tfila Benyamin Synagogue in Czernowitz (Kiev: Spirit and Letter Publishers, 2008), ISBN 978-966-378-080-1. It is an important monograph on naive murals by an anonymous artist in a Hasidic synagogue of Chernitvtsi, the capital of Bukovina. The book includes text in English and Russian, as well as numerous color illustrations, photographs of preserved synagogue murals in Ukraine and Rumania. Author's analysis of the decorative program of Beit Tfila Benyamin is based on decades of Khaimovich's work in the region.

(Sam's note: Boris's work should also be a valiable contribution to those who are studying American synagogue decoration, especially the zodiac and other decorative systems I have reported on previously).

-- Victor Proskuryakov, Bohdan Hoy, Kul'turolohiya yevreys'koho teatru v konteksti chasu, dii i arkhitektury [Cultural Study of Jewish Theatre in Ukraine in Context of Time, Action and Architecture] (Lviv: National University "Lviv Polytechnica" Publishers, 2007), ISBN 978-966-553-620-8. The book gives a rich material on buildings of Jewish theatres in Ukraine, both rent and designed for this purpose. Published in Ukrainian, with black and white figures.

-- Żanna Komar, Trzecie miasto Galicji. Stanisławów i jego architektura w okresie autonomii galickiej [The Third City in Galicia. Stanisławów and Its Architecture during Galician Autonomy] (Krakow: Międzynarodowe Centrum Kultury Publishers, 2008), ISBN 978-83-89273-52-9. This interesting book gives a chapter on the Progressive Synagogue of Stanisławów, designed by an outstanding Jewish architect Wilhelm Stiassny. Author publishes an alternative design of the same synagogue by local and Vienna-trained architect Maksymilian Schloss, and gives its story as seen by its historiographer Leon Streit, and by local press. Published in Polish, with rich illustrations, wonderful photographs, beautiful layout. The project was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland.

(Sam's note: We should expect more publications on the work of the Viennese Stiassny - one of the most active and respected Jewish architect and civic leader (and Zionist) of his day. A paper on his work was presented at the Lviv conference).

Poland: Krakow’s Wysoka (High) Synagogue Open to Public

Poland: Krakow’s Wysoka (High) Synagogue Open to Public
by Samuel D. Gruber

(ISJM) Krakow’s Wysoka (High) Synagogue at 38 Jozefa Street in Kazimierz, one of Europe’s oldest surviving synagogue buildings, reopened to the public this past summer. The High Synagogue (so-called, because its worship space is located on the first main floor above ground level) was built in the second half of the 16th century, possibly as early as 1556-63, and certainly by 1597).

Although only part of the original Aron-ha-Kodesh and a small part of its original wall decoration survives, this has been restored and is worth viewing. The Aron is notable for its prominent paired Griffins. Painting mostly survives on the south wall which faces the street and has large window openings. Portions of prayers and high quality floral decorations in the intrados of the window arches have been revealed, cleaned and restored (see photos). I do not know if the full texts – complete and fragmentary – have been identified and studied (viewers of the photos can let me know their thoughts). Normally in synagogues of this period prayers were painted on the walls. Sometimes special variants of prayers were painted to help direct the worshippers on special occasions.

The Kazimierz District walls ran adjacent to the synagogue site, and adjacent properties were not owned by Jews. The upper floor placement of the sanctuary may have been for security reasons. The building was remodeled on many occasions, and the current form of the building is from the 19th century. This arrangement in turn was heavily damaged during the German occupation and then during the use of the building as conservation workshop space by the City of Krakow.

In Krakow, only the Staary (Old) and Remu Synagogues are older. The ground floor was originally used for rent-producing shops, and this situation has been re-created in the restituted property. A Jewish bookstore with an extensive collection occupies the space. A similar situation exists in Prague, where the 16th century High Synagogue served as the prayer space for the Jewish nearly-adjacent Jewish town hall.



The entire space, which was restituted to the Krakow Jewish community, is also used as an exhibition hall. An entrance fee of 9 zlotys (about $3.00) cover entrance to the synagogue and the current exhibit, photographs by Menachem Kipnis (1878-1942), who died of a stroke in the Warsaw Ghetto. Kipnis, who was among the foremost experts on Yiddish folklore – especially music – published these photos in the American Yiddish newspaper the Forvarts (Forward).