Elevator Garage, Chicago, 1936
John Gutmann

The Jean and Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies

Since 1976 Jewish Studies at the University of Michigan has thrived as an interdisciplinary endeavor drawing on the rich resources of a diverse faculty, educating undergraduate and graduate students, and engaging the community. The inauguration of the Frankel Institute for Advanced Judiac Studies in 2007 establishes the University of Michigan as a premiere site for Jewish Studies in the United States.

inthenews…

• From Haven to Home: Exhibit Depicts Jewish Life in America
• The Frankel Center Welcomes New Affiliates

spotlight

Institute Explores a New Theme:
The Culture of Jewish Objects

What makes an object Jewish? The question invites other questions, about the significance of objects within Jewish culture and whether one can speak of a culture of Jewish objects. Jews have obviously used diverse objects throughout their long history and some of these have been endowed with specifically Jewish significance. Ritual objects, for example, associated with Jewish religious practices immediately come to mind. Sabbath observance, with its candle holders, Kiddush cup, challah plate, and spice box just to name familiar objects, involves a range of Jewish artifacts that simultaneously expand on and deviate from sacred meaning associated with synagogues or the ancient Temples. But what about other, more mundane, objects that are integral to Jewish life yet not associated with sacred time or space? How does one think about buildings and decorations, book covers and design, kitchen structures and cooking utensils, clothing and jewelry? In 2009–2010, the Frankel Institute theme will examine the construction of Jewish objects. Engaging current developments in the field of Material Culture, we will study the purpose, use, and aesthetics of Jewish “things,” as well as the ways they have been embraced and contested throughout history. In focusing on the culture of Jewish objects, the Institute will explore relationships among the physical, visual, spiritual, and textual over a broad span of time and place.

This year’s cohort of scholars spans the globe geographically—Tel-Aviv and Amsterdam, London and Haifa and Chicago—and academically, with topics ranging from early modern Yiddish books to early modern Ashkenaz life, pre-Monarchic Israel and Second Temple material culture, Jewish acculturation in Fin-de-Siècle Central Europe, and Jewish Parisians and Berliners. To read more, click on Spotlight.