Fredric Aranda has photographed the likes of HRH Prince Philip and Bill Clinton, but his most recent exhibition breaks away from GQ and Vanity Fair, where his photos so often appear. Titled "Kosherface," the collection of unexpected images focuses on Lubavitcher Jews and gives people a glimpse into the often insular world of Lubavitcher communities. The exhibition opens today at at Theprintspace Gallery in London and will run through Dec. 2nd.
Aranda began taking pictures of Hasidim while he was a student at Oxford and ended up living in the home of a Lubavitcher rabbi. He began taking photos of the rabbi's family, then of family friends, and before he knew it he had photographed some 3,000 rabbis. These images are the foundation of "Kosherface" and you can see some of them on Tablet's website. They include silohuettes, a bride covered for her bedeken ceremony, even a rabbi rowing a boat. The image shown here, of a young hasidic man whose face has been splattered in paint, is from the exhibition announcement on Aranda's website. Of the images that make use of splatter paint, Aranda says: "I always thought it would be fun to experiment with color on what is very monochromatic clothing for the men. It's refreshing to see the hasidic in the context of fashion and beauty photography. I don't want this to be a show just for Jews."
Every week I come across Jewish news stories that are interesting but ultimately don't make it into a full-fledged blog post. This always bothered me, but then this morning I thought: why not do a weekly round-up? Many of the blogs I read create these posts, wherein they highlight news stories from the week. Let me know what you think about this new addition to the Judaism blog.
- PBS will soon air a new adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank, which portrays her as a boy-crazy teen. "Anne "was pretty obsessed with boys, prickly and difficult with her mother, quite manipulative, mad about clothes and very interested in her looks," says Deborah Moggach, who wrote the TV production. [via New York Post]
- Rav Ovadia Yosef, former Chief Sephardic Rabbi and current spiritual leader of Israel's Shas political party, called women who wear prayer shawls to daven at the Western Wall "stupid" and "deviants." He was speaking of Women of the Wall, a group of Jewish women who believe women should be able to read from the Torah. [via The Forward]
- Rabbi Alysa Stanton has assumed her role as head rabbi at Bayt Shalom. She is history's first female African-American rabbi. [via The Forward]
- A jury convicted Sholom Rubashkin, the former owner of an Iowa kosher slaughterhouse, of 86 out of 91 financial fraud charges. His sentence could be over 1,250 years. [via JTA]
- The EveryOne Group has asked the Israeli government to buy the house where Adolf Hitler was born in order to prevent the house from falling into the hands of extremists. [via Jerusalem Post]
- Time magazine reports in its Nov. 16 issue that R. Crumb's recent illustration of Genesis, which came out on Oct. 19, has become a best-seller: No. 1 on the New York Times graphic books list and No. 2 on Amazon.com's Christian books list. You can see images from the comic on the Forward's website by clicking here.
- Famed Jazz musician Louis Armstrong was inspired by a Jewish peddler family he worked for as a boy in New Orleans, according to a new article in Commentary. Their warmth made him a lifelong philo-Semite who wore a Star of David around his neck. [via Tablet]
If you're a crafty person and looking for a Hanukkah project, Cheryl, our Needlepoint Guide, has some neat patterns to share with you:
In the market for something you can do with the kids? Here are a few ideas:
Image via Getty Images / Dana Hoff
Rabbi Joanna Samuels recently wrote a blog post for The Forward that highlighted something unexpected about one of JTS's upcoming events: they are planning an "evening of fashion and passion" that will be hosted by Israeli Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Esti Ginzburg. The event is being advertised as an opportunity for people to "get a sense of the incredible variety of Jewish engagement opportunities in New York -- and to party with hundreds of other professional, active, vibrant, young Jews." Definitely not par for course as far as JTS events are concerned, and Rabbi Samuels asks: Why is a swimsuit model headlining it? If anything, an institution that trains clergy should stay away from swimsuit models.
Esti will not be wearing a swimsuit during the event, which will be part fashion show, part learning session. First, models will walk the runway wearing the clothes of three Israeli fashion designers, and then people will be invited to learn more about the various Jewish organizations in attendance - what they do in the community and how people can get involved.
Commenters on Rabbi Samuels' post have had mixed reactions to this event. Some see nothing wrong with it, pointing out that Esti is a Jewish woman who just happens to model swimsuits for a living. "You are completely defining her by her job," remarked one commenter, "If she wants to get involved in Jewish life and use her celebrity power to attract other Jews to Jewish events then I think that is great." Others remarked that this event illustrates just how desperate Jewish education is to bring people into the fold.
As a JTS alum myself I was surprised by this combination of fashion and learning, but honestly, it doesn't bother me. Educators are always looking for ways to tap into interests people already have, all in the hopes of helping them connect with other Jews and with their heritage as a whole. If an Israeli fashion show sponsored by Jewish organizations brings people together and helps them learn about the great work being done in the community - why not?
What are your thoughts?
Image via Getty Images / Photo by Joe Kohen
