Rabbi's Week in Review Blog

I recently realized that it had been some time since I had been to a gallery or museum.  Given that my son Isaac works in a gallery in NYC, it seems I would have missed it sooner or plugged in more regularly. What started me back into a love and appreciation for our visual-art world was the program with Riva Lehrer and her book Golem Girl. Her incredible portraiture, often taking over a year for each work, illustrated people of great strength with compelling (even riveting) stories. This included Riva’s self-portraits and her own powerful story as a disabled, queer Jew.

After what seemed to me to be a long absence, Fay and I went to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. We focused our visit on an exhibit of local African-American artists in celebration of Black history month. The art was beautiful, creative and full of meaning. They gave us messages that need to be conveyed, and the artists conveyed them beautifully. I was proud of what our own community can create.

I also renewed my pride in having a place like the Nelson-Atkins. I grew up with the museum, having taken an art class there at age 4. (I knew right away that my future career was not as a visual artist.) We toured parts of the permanent collection, in addition to the African-American exhibit. The Asian art, in particular, has been and continues to be the Nelson-Atkins’ signature collection. Just being in the beautiful building (both the old and the relatively new) is both inspiring and calming (maybe a bit of my own Shabbos).

This week’s Torah portion features Bezalel as director for the construction of the Mishkan, our Holy Tabernacle. From the beginning of our existence, art was recognized as essential to creating community, to uplifting our cultural identity, and to inspiring us to do and be better. It is integral to our sense of hope for the future.