Secularizing the Sacred

Alec Mishory's publications deal with the origins of Israeli art and its links with Jewish themes and Zionist utopias including The Jewish Art Scene in Israel 1948-1949 (2013) and Joseph Budko's Design of H. N. Bialik’s Works Edition of 1923 (2006).

• List of IllustrationsNote on Terms and TransliterationIntroductionPart 1: Before Statehood1 The Clarion Call: E. M. Lilien and the Jewish Renaissance1.1 Life, Heroism, and Beauty1.2 Lilien’s Winged Figures1.3 Restrained Decadence: Jewish Angels1.4 Olympus and Golgotha in the Service of Zionism2 Boris Schatz’s Pantheon of Zionist Cultural Heroes2.1 A Day Dream2.2 A New Florence2.3 A Hebrew Pantheon: Individual Commemoration2.4 Collective Commemoration2.5 Schatz’s Legacy: Models for a Sovereign State Heroes3 “The Garden of Love”: Early Zionist Eroticism3.1 The Garden of Love: A Remedial Institution for Nervous Atrophy3.2 In the Song of Songs Pavilion3.3 The New Jew: Intellect and Sensuality Combined3.4 Kisses and Embraces3.5 Orientalism and Symbolism in the Zionist-Biblical World3.6 The Secular Bride4 Zionist Revival and Rebirth on the Façade of the Municipal School in Tel Aviv4.1 Past and Present Come Together4.2 Four Hebrew CitiesPart 2: Objects and Conceptions of Sovereignty5 Israel’s Scroll of Independence6 Hues of Heaven: The Israeli Flag6.1 The Zionist Flag6.2 The Magen David (David’s Shield) or the Jewish Star6.3 The Blue Stripes6.4 First Proposals for an Israeli Flag6.5 A Multitude of King David’s Shields7 Menorah and Olive Branches on Israel’s National Emblem7.1 In Search of a National Emblem7.2 Archaeology and Socialism: Jewish Tradition versus Secularism7.3 The Shamir Brothers Studio’s Proposal7.4 Prophet Zecharia’s Vision: Harmony between State and Church7.5 A Visual Precedent from 13007.6 Public Reactions to the Design of the National Emblem8 From Exile to Homeland: the Mythical Journey of the Temple Menorah8.1 An Icon of Destruction8.2 The Arch of Titus: A Symbol of Destruction and Exile8.3 “Oh Titus, Titus, If You Could Only See!”8.4 The Menorah Returns Home8.5 A Miraculous Translocation8.6 A Gift from the Mother of Parliaments to the New Israeli Parliament8.7 Benno Elkan: A Self-Anointed Modern Bezalel8.8 The Menorah’s Penultimate Station on Its Way Home: Kssalon Settlement8.9 Visual References to the Israeli Menorah Motif9 Zionism Liberates the Captured Daughter of Zion9.1 The Judaea capta Coin9.2 Jewish References to the Roman Judaea capta Coin9.3 From Judaea capta to Judaea liberata9.4 The Judaea capta Image on Official Israeli Publications9.5 A Late Israeli Daughter of Zion10 The Twelve Tribes of Israel: From Biblical Symbolism to Emblems of a Mythical Promised Land10.1 The Twelve Tribes of Israel: Symbolizing the Unity and Diversity of the Jewish People10.2 Biblical and Midrashim Sources10.3 Verbal Turned Visual: Heraldic Emblems of the Twelve Tribes10.4 From Christian Bibles to Jewish Synagogue Decorations10.5 E. M. Lilien’s Legacy10.6 Beyond Lilien’s Legacy10.7 Symbols of Sovereignty10.8 Emblems of a Mythical Promised Land11 Old and New in Land of Israel Flora11.1 Israeli Plants as Local Icons11.2 Familiar Biblical Plants: The Seven Kinds11.3 The Four Species11.4 Grapes, Figs, and Pomegranates as Symbols of Sovereignty11.5 The Spies Motif11.6 The New Jew as a Tiller of the Soil11.7 Herzl’s Cypress Tree Myth11.8 Unfamiliar Wild Plants11.9 “A Very Lovely Cyclamen”11.10 “We Shall Return as Red Flowers”11.11 “Nobody Understands Cyclamens Anymore”11.12 Local Plants Revisited11.13 A Symbol Shared by Two Peoples: The Israeli Cactus12 Ancient Magic and Modern Transformation: The Unique Hebrew Alphabet12.1 Hebrew Calligraphy12.2 Hebrew Typography12.3 Hebrew Typography in Israeli Design12.4 Uses of the Hebrew Alphabet in Non-textual Israeli Visual MediaPart 3: Sculptural Commemoration within the Israeli Public Space13 From Pilgrimage Site to Military Marching Grounds: Theodor Herzl’s Gravesite in Jerusalem13.1 Herzl’s Coffin Brought to Tel Aviv13.2 Herzl’s Burial Ceremony in Jerusalem13.3 International Competition for Herzl’s Burial Site Design13.4 Winner of the Competition: Yosef Klarwein’s Design13.5 Runner-up Prize: Danziger and Shalgi’s Design13.6 The Committee for Herzl’s Burial Site Doubts Its Own Decisions13.7 Herzl’s Tomb Final Design and Unveiling14 Natan Rapoport’s Soviet Style of the Yad Mordechai and Negba Memorials14.1 Ghetto Heroism and Israeli Valor14.2 The Yad Mordechai Memorial14.3 The Negba Memorial15 Holocaust and Resurrection in Yigal Tumarkin’s Memorial in Tel Aviv15.1 Is It Possible to Render the Holocaust Visually?15.2 The International Committee, Auschwitz15.3 Israeli Holocaust Memorials at Yad Vashem15.4 The Memorial to the Holocaust and the Resurrection of Israel16 In Conclusion: Secularizing the Sacred, Israeli Art, and Jewish Orthodox Laws16.1 The Hebrew Bible: A Spring Abundant with Narratives and Allegorical Figures16.2 A Visual Discourse with Jewish Artists from the Past16.3 Israeli “Graven Images”16.4 Hybrids16.5 Jewish Angels and Israeli Cherubs16.6 Taharah and tum’ah (Purity and Impurity)General Index