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July, 30th, 2017



Yours sincerely
 
 

Michel Santi                                                                   Christian-Marc Keller
Founder                                                                           Founder
 
 
 
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 Jewish artists and Christian imagery


 

       

 

Jewish and Israeli artists used Christian imagery to challenge long-held taboos in both communities, showcasing the evolving attitudes of Jewish artists toward a figure whose place in Jewish history has been reinterpreted over two millennia. 

Throughout history, Jews traditionally shunned Jesus and his gospel. And while the Holy Land might be his accepted birthplace, for Jews in the modern state of Israel there is often resistance to learning about or even acknowledging Christianity.

This stems mainly from a fear of centuries old anti-Semitism, especially in Europe, where the crucifixion of Jesus was used as an excuse to persecute Jews. We are talking about a 2,000-year-old tension between Judaism and Christianity and the fact that anti-Semitism grew in Christian thought and theology.

It is however surprising just how many Jewish artists throughout history, and today in Israel, have used Jesus and Christian themes as inspirations for their work. It is a delicate subject for Jews everywhere, including in Israel, but artists by nature are attracted to something that is forbidden for them.

While some of the older works by European Jews challenge Christian anti-Semitism or look at how Jesus' Jewish roots could act as a bridge between the two religions, more contemporary pieces explore Jesus as an anti-establishment figure, who suffered at not being understood. There's the "Yellow Crucifixion," a 1943 Marc Chagall painting showing Jesus Christ as a Jew. Hued in yellow, perhaps representing the star the Nazis forced Jews to wear, Jesus is strung from a cross wrapped in a Jewish prayer shawl and phylacteries. 

 


Another artist, Moshe Hoffman, a Hungarian Jew who survived the Holocaust, used his art to question Christianity's role in the genocide. In one work, "Six million and 1," Hoffman shows a Nazi guard attempting to pull Jesus from the cross to make him Jewish prisoner number 6,000,001. 


                                    


Others used Jesus as a Jew to connect their Jewish identity to Christian surroundings. Perhaps the best-known contemporary artwork is AdiNes' depiction of Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper," which substitutes Israeli soldiers for the apostles. The image has become a cultural icon for Israelis, suggesting perhaps that Christian themes are becoming more acceptable in Jewish culture.

 

Michel Santi
 

Founder

 

 


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