ARGAMAN CULTURAL PROJECT
24.06.2021
"ABRAHAM’S GOD, ISAAC’S FEAR" - FROM LECTURE SERIES "HERO AND VICTIM"
June 8th, 2021 - Tel Aviv and Central Region
Natalie Nesher Aman began the lecture by going back to the original text of the Binding of Isaac in the Bible and various interpretations of what was written. Then she discussed how this story is represented differently in art and theological texts of different religions. In Judaism, it is called the binding of Yitzhak. In Christianity - the sacrifice of Isaac or the sacrifice of Abraham. We discussed the earliest Jewish representations - mosaics in ancient synagogues. Natalie talked about how Yitzchak's age changed in the paintings during different periods, how you can interpret this, and why this is one of the most famous subjects of Israeli artists. One can understand society at one time or another better from the small details in the image.
Argaman is a challenge for me. I came without knowing anything about Israeli art and Jewish culture. It was difficult for me at the beginning, but today I get great pleasure from how many new things I am learning and how this knowledge is cumulative.
Alex R.
VISIT WITH ARTIST MIKHAIL YANKELEVICH, MAALEH ADUMIM
June 25th, 2021 - Tel Aviv and Central Region
Michael Yahilevich, a former Soviet Jewish activist and Israeli artist and educator, accompanied our group to the Moshe Kastel Museum. The museum director Eli shared Moshe Kastel’s biography and how he came to the technique of working with basalt. As we toured the museum, we discussed Kastel’s interactions with themes from Tanakh and Kabbala in his works.
Mikhail guided us through the temporary exhibition "Mesilot" - works of the creative community of which Mikhail himself is a part. The first hall tells the story of how they discovered the world of Judaism in the USSR and began to observe it underground, and the second hall, about leaving the FSU and who they have become 30 years later, after more than 20 years in Israel.
Our walk ended in the synagogue of the Makhanaim community. In the synagogue, Michael Yahilevich told us about the Mahanaim community, how they moved from Moscow to Maale Adumim, how he invented and implemented the fantastic design of the synagogue.
Thank you so much, Argaman! It was a very intense and deep trip, I learned so many new things! My mother lives in Maale Adumim and I often visit her, but I have never heard of the Moshe Kastel museum or the Mahanaim synagogue. Every meeting, you open the world to me anew!
Dinah S.
