PURE GOLD AND HASIDISM

 

As befits Israel’s capital city, Jerusalem is home to a great variety of museums, large and small.  Going into Google, we found a list of 33, some of which we hadn’t even heard. We already have the unknown ones in mind for visits later in the year and, if they are of sufficient interest, as subjects for future articles.

THE BIBLE LANDS MUSEUM

The Bible Lands Museum, which is across the road from the well-known, recently modernized and re-built Israel Museum, is at present celebrating its 20^th anniversary by displaying a magnificent exhibition entitled Pure Gold. This amazing exhibition shows what an important part gold plays in the history of the Jewish people, in the Bible it is mentioned more than any other metal, in fact 385 times.  The Hebrew language contains many phrases and expressions for the word gold which are used to express abundance, goodness, quality and beauty. There are a large and varied number of exquisite objects in this exhibition, including some of the oldest golden objects in the world. Much of the jewellery, mostly from Greece and Rome are designs that women would happily wear today, although maybe not some of the earrings which look as if their weight might do serious damage to ones’ ear lobes.  There are Estrucan fibulae (pins), belt buckles worn by soldiers in ancient China, delicate golden wreaths dedicated to pagan gods and goddesses, straps made of miniscule golden threads and several examples of a sophisticated type of gold-work called granulation.  Of particular interest to us was an amulet that once belonged to a young Jewish woman called Klara who lived about 1,400 years ago and when about to give birth, felt the need of a good luck charm. The amulet consists of a spell inscribed inside a band of thin gold which she would have rolled up and worn next to her body.  We hoped, as we looked at it, that it ensured her an easy labour and the birth of a healthy baby.  This exhibition warrants more than one visit as watching all the fascinating videos dotted around the exhibition, which explain different methods of making and fashioning gold could take several hours.

A WORLD APART NEXT DOOR

On the other side of the road, in the Israel Museum, is a completely different kind of exhibition, with the above title, followed by the explanation,  A glimpse into the life of Hasidic Jews. Through photographs, films, music and exhibits of clothing and ritual objects it highlights a Hasidic culture that few of us know about.  The Exhibition endeavours to give the visitor a glimpse into this rich social and spiritual, but, to us bizarre, way of life, which revolves around its spiritual leader, the Rebbe. The rather sad impression that we were left with was that the men had much the better time of it in this environment, always seen at various weddings and celebrations, drinking, singing and dancing, while their wives were shown, drably dressed and huddled together, watching the proceedings from a distance.  Our hearts went out to the young, heavily veiled bride, shown in one film, who was being led blindly round and round a dance floor on a ribbon (reminiscent of a dog on a lead) by her famous rebbe father, in front of hundreds of watching Hasidic men.  It is indeed strange to think that in Jerusalem, we exist side by side with this branch of Judaism and yet know so little about it.  This exhibition aims to enlighten the public but it still left us with our minds full of questions.