What Are the Origins of Jewish Art?

What is it about?

The biblical account of the Israelites receiving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai reads: “You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image or any likeness of what is in the Heavens above or on the Earth below or on the Waters below the Earth” (Exod. 20:4). God is presented as an abstract being beyond nature and thus is not to be worshipped through pictures or statues within the natural world. While Moses, the leader of the Israelites, was on the mountain taking the tablets, God told him to build a Tabernacle and to assign the artist known as Bezalel, whose name means “in the shadow of God,” to carry out the work. The Tabernacle with all its features and implements – the cherubs, the menorah, the showbread table, and its other objects – were all built “after the pattern” (Exod. 25:40) shown to Moses on the mountain and these shaped the foundation of Jewish art. Essentially, then, both the prohibition of making images and the Tabernacle, which was the original source of Jewish art were both revealed in the revelation in Sinai. After the two Temples in Jerusalem that replaced the Tabernacle in the desert were destroyed, it was accepted that the Jews as the children of the Israelites were not allowed to fashion images and they became known as the people of the book and the written word, and not as a people who create art. Nevertheless, over time. many Jewish artistic objects were discovered from various periods and in a range of localities, and it became clear that Jews did have art and did fashion objects that included symbols related to their religion and history. Coins, burial decorations, synagogue architecture, mosaics, and wall paintings, as well as illuminated manuscripts and other objects of art were found and studied. This brief survey is designed to take the reader on a fascinating journey in time and place to follow the research of many scholars and archaeologists in order to answer such queries as: What are the artistic symbols associated with Judaism? Why is it said that Jewish art is a visual representation of Jewish thought and history.

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Why is it important?

Most people view Jewish Art as consisting of Objects of Arts and Craft to be used for the purpose of celebrating Jewish festivals . It is important to expose the readers of this article to the vast work done by scholars who analyzed Jewish art as a visual means to understand the interpretations of biblical, kabalistic, midrashic and philosophical ideas.

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