Hasidic Art and the Kabbalah

Batsheva Goldman-Ida, Ph.D. (2008), The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is Curator of Special Projects at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and specializes in visual culture, especially in the early modern period. Born in Boston, MA, she studied Decorative Arts in New York at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum and Parsons School of Design. Her latest exhibition and catalogue Alchemy of Words: Abraham Abulafia, Dada, Lettrism (2016) juxtaposes the medieval mystic with early modern innovators of linguistic mysticism and contemporary performance artists.

• AcknowledgementsList of FiguresIntroductionPart 1: Manuscripts1 Hasidic Prayer BookContinuity and ChangeSignificanceConclusionPart 2: Ritual Objects2 Hasidic Wine CupContinuity and ChangeModelsSignificanceConclusion3 Hasidic Seder PlateContinuity and ChangeModelsInfluencesSignificanceConclusion4 Hasidic Sabbath LampContinuity and ChangeModelsSignificanceConclusion5 The Hasidic Prayer Shawl OrnamentContinuity and ChangeModelsShpanyer-ArbetInfluencesSignificanceConclusionPart 3: Folk Art6 The Hasidic Pipe and SnuffboxContinuity and ChangeModelsSignificanceConclusion7 Hasidic TalismansContinuity and ChangeModelsInfluenceSignificanceConclusion8 The Hasidic Rabbi’s ChairContinuity and ChangeInfluencesSignificanceConclusion9 ConclusionSymbolismMythic ContextHasidic ContextWorship through CorporealityThe Nature of HasidismNew Directions in ResearchBibliographyIndex

"Batsheva Goldman-Ida's Hasidic Art and the Kabbalah sets up a visual feast that recalls the ancient Tabernacle or Temple vessels while, at the same time, expanding our notion of the sacred." - Glenn Dynner, Jewish Review of Books (Fall 2018).