The widespread assumption that Jewish religious tradition is mediated through words, not pictures, has left Jewish art with no significant role to play in Jewish theology and ethics. Judaism and the Visual Image argues for a Jewish theology of image that, among other things, helps us re-read the creation story in Genesis 1 and to question why images of Jewish women as religious subjects appear to be doubly suppressed by the Second Commandment, when images of observant male Jews have become legitimate, even iconic, representations of Jewish holiness. Raphael further suggests that 'devout behold.    Read more...      Content: The second commandment in Jewish art and thought -- Genesis 1 and the creation of the image -- What does a Jewish woman look like? Gender and images of Jews in art -- Sublimity and representation of the Holocaust in art -- Towards a theology of the Holocaust image -- The dancing figure of Jewish history. Abstract:                           Provides an enquiry into the visuality of the relationship between God and Israel. This book argues that revelation is an aesthetic moment, but that the Jewish assumption of its own aniconism has meant that the aesthetic has come to play no significant role in Jewish theology and ethics.                 Read more...

Judaism and the Visual Image: A Jewish Theology of Art PDF

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