Free and open to the public Far from a throwback to the Middle Ages, Hasidism is a product of modernity that forged its identity as a radical alternative to the secular world. So argue the eight distinguished authors, led by David Biale, of Hasidism: A New History, the first comprehensive account of the movement’s place in […]
Free and open to the public A documentary devoted to three pilgrimages to sacred mountains in the three Abrahamic Religions. The work explores the role of music practices as a way of prayer and participation, and the importance of sound in shaping and giving meaning to places. The narrative is shaped around three episodes, each devoted to a different event, following the usual moments of a pilgrimage. The Ascent: on the occasion of Shavuot, the Israelite Samaritans go to pray on Mount Gerizim, in the West Bank, where their sacred places are located. The Feast: in August, members of the brotherhood of the Bektashi climb Mount Tomorr, in Albania, where they pray near the tombs of dede, and practice the kurban (a sacrificial slaughtering of a sheep, whose meat is consumed by each participating family). The Descent: in early September, the miraculous statue of the Black Madonna of Viggiano, Queen of Lucania, in Italy, "descends" into the village for a festival. Nicola Scaldaferri is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cultural Heritage and Environment at the University of Milan, Italy, where he founded and directs the Laboratory of Ethnomusicology and Visual Anthropology. He has done extensive ethnomusicological research in Italy, Albania, and Burkina-Faso, as well as research on […]
Free and open to the Public Join David Wilson, Greg Niemeyer and Nicki Green, three contemporary artists who, in recent years, have interacted with The Magnes Collection and contributed to exhibitions that intersect new works with art and artifacts from the collection itself, in a conversation about art, creativity, archives, and memory, moderated by Francesco […]
The Herman P. and Sophia Taubman Chair in Jewish Studies invite you to the 2018 Taubman Lecture Series by Professor Annette Yoshiko Reed, NYU. Lecture 1 What Was Lost with the Dead Sea Scrolls When: Monday, March 12, 7:00 p.m. Lecture 2 How the Jewishness of Christianity was Forgotten When: Wednesday, March 14, 7:00 p.m. Lecture […]
Please note: The February 27 event has been canceled. The series will begin on March 20. Join Magnes curators to discover the elaborate texts and imagery, magic formulas, and Kabbalistic sources in Hebrew amulets. Worn on one’s person or placed in homes, Jewish amulets are used at moments of vulnerability and transition, like childbirth, marriage, […]
Honoring Hana Berger Moran, distinguished survivor. Featuring Joel Ben-Izzy, storyteller; Mike Perlmutter, Gerry Tenney, Dmitri Gaskin, Dusan Rustic, musicians. This event is free and open to the public. For all inquiries please contact the City of Berkeley at 510-981-7170 Priska and Hana 1949
Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (POLIN Museum, Warsaw, and NYU) on Theatre of History: Presenting the Past in American Jewish Museums Monday, April 16, 6:30pm Presented by GTU Center for Jewish Studies, in collaboration with The Magnes, UC Berkeley What is “the problem with Jewish museums”? Whereas there were only two major Jewish museums in the United States before […]
In 2017, The Magnes acquired from Irvin Ungar, a private collector, the most significant collection of works by Arthur Szyk (Łódź, Poland, 1894 – New Canaan, Connecticut, 1951) thanks to an unprecedented gift from Taube Philanthropies. Szyk’s works are now available to the world in a public institution for the first time as the Taube […]
The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life cordially invites you to an opening reception for its two new exhibitions Pièces de RésistanceEchoes of Judaea CaptaFrom Ancient Coins to Modern Art & Project “Holy Land” Yaakov Benor-Kalter’s Photographs of British Mandate Palestine Tuesday, September 4, 2018 at 5 pm 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley RECEPTION OPENING […]
This event is free and open to the public Please RSVP here Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History (Liveright/WW Norton, 2018) by Steven Zipperstein will be available for purchase through Mrs. Dalloway's bookstore after the event. In April, 1903, 49 Jews were killed, 600 were raped or wounded, and more than 1,000 Jewish-owned houses and stores were […]
This event is free and open to the public Please RSVP here In June of 1905, Sholem Aleichem—author of the Tevye Stories—met in Warsaw with theater producers Spivakovsky and Adler, and agreed to pen adaptations of his fiction works for theatrical production on stages throughout the Russian Empire. Only a few months later, caught in the […]
Additional Program Date: Tue, Nov 27, 2018 5:30pm The Taube Family Arthur Szyk Collection comprises hundreds of artworks, sketches, illustrated books, and archival documents created between two world wars and documenting the rise of totalitarianism in Europe. Szyk’s work touches on motifs drawn from the Bible, history, politics, and culture to pair extraordinary craftsmanship with […]
![Untitled [Lions of Judah and Star of David Motif]](https://live-magnes-wp.pantheon.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/2017-5-1-21_1-scaled.jpg "Untitled [Lions of Judah and Star of David Motif]")