The artless Jew : medieval and modern affirmations and denials of the visual

236 Pages·2000·1.36 MB·English

by  Bland

THE ARTLESS JEW
THE ARTLESS JEW
MEDIEVAL AND MODERN AFFIRMATIONS
AND DENIALS OF THE VISUAL
Kalman P. Bland
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
Copyright(cid:211) 2000byPrincetonUniversityPress
PublishedbyPrincetonUniversityPress,41WilliamStreet,
Princeton,NewJersey08540
IntheUnitedKingdom:PrincetonUniversityPress,
Chichester,WestSussex
AllRightsReserved
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Bland,KalmanP.,1942–
TheartlessJew:medievalandmodernaffirmations
anddenialsofthevisual/byKalmanP.Bland.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-691-01043-9(cl.:alk.paper)
1.Judaismandart—Historyofdoctrines.2.Tencommandments—
Images.3.Art,Jewish.4.Jewishaesthetics.5.Jews—Intellectuallife.
I.Title.
BM538.A7B552000
296.4'6'09—dc21 99-044922
ThisbookhasbeencomposedinGalliard
Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimum
requirementsofANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992(R1997)
(PermanenceofPaper)
http://pup.princeton.edu
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Annabel J. Wharton
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 3
One
ModernDenialsandAffirmationsofJewishArt:
GermanophoneOriginsandThemes 13
Two
Anglo-AmericanVariations 37
Three
ThePremodernConsensus 59
Four
TheWell-TemperedMedievalSensorium 71
Five
MedievalBeautyandCulturalRelativism 92
Six
Twelfth-CenturyPilgrims,GoldenCalves,
andReligiousPolemics 109
Seven
ThePowerandRegulationofImagesinLate
MedievalJewishSociety 141
Notes 155
Bibliography 201
Index 229
Acknowledgments
PORTIONSOFchapter1appearedinJewishIdentityinModernArtHistory,
edited by Catherine Soussloff. A different version of chapter 4 appeared
in the Journal of the History of Ideas. Chapter 5 appeared in the Journal
ofMedievalandEarlyModernStudies.Iamgratefultotheeditorsofthose
publicationsfortheirpermissiontoreproducemywork.
Deborah Malmud and her staff at Princeton University Press are un-
matched in efficiency, professionalism, and humane support. Collaborat-
ing with them in the making of this book was an author’s privilege and
pleasure.
To the many people who read portions of the manuscript and shared
their wisdom with me, I am profoundly grateful. Chief among them is
AnnabelJ.Wharton,towhomthisbookisdedicated.SidraDeKovenEz-
rahi has a keen eye and a heart for encouragement. Rifa"at "Ali Abou
El-Haj and Richard I. Cohen know what needs saying. Erich Gruen,
Bluma Goldstein, Catherine Soussloff, and Peter Selz were there when I
neededthem.RobertAlterandBarryS.Kogangavesagecounsel.Daniel
Boyarinofferedearlyandconstantencouragement.ReadersforPrinceton
University Press made invaluable suggestions. Had I followed more of
theiradvice,IwouldhaverepairedalloftheremainingfaultlinesinThe
ArtlessJew.
KalmanP.Bland
March1999
THE ARTLESS JEW
Introduction
Thereisnotestthatsosurelyrevealstheone-
sidednessofaphilosophyasitstreatmentofartand
aestheticexperience.
(JohnDewey,ArtasExperience)
THEARTLESSJEWstudiesanidea.Itinvestigatesthesocialorigins,intellec-
tualmoorings,andculturalimplicationsofJewishaniconism.Aniconism
referstotheambiguous“historiographicmyththatcertaincultures,usu-
allymonotheisticorprimitivelypurecultures,havenoimagesatall,orno
figurativeimagery,ornoimagesofthedeity.”1Jewishaniconismimplies
that Jews are a People of the Book rather than a People of the Image.
Proponents of Jewish aniconism deny the existence of authentic Jewish
traditions in painting, sculpture, and architecture. They con-
cede that Jews imitate, in production and reception, the foreign art of
their host or neighboring cultures. They claim that Jewish attitudes to-
wardvisualityandthevisualartsrangefromindifferencetosuspicionand
hostility.
The grand themes of Jewish aniconism are sounded by innumerable
culturalhistorianswhoinsistthat“theSecondCommandmentandmany
otherrestrictionsintheBibleundoubtedlyhadanegativeimpactonthe
artisticdevelopmentoftheJewishpeople,andsubsequentlyofChristian-
ity and Islam.”2 Similar strains reverberate whenever Jewish artists com-
plainthat“monotheismwasdearlybought—andbecauseofthatJudaism
hadtogiveupobservationofnaturewithoureyes,andnotjustwithour
soul. On religious grounds, Judaism struggled with ancient idolatry,
whoseremnantsaredisplayedtodayinallmuseumsoftheworld,sothat
[Judaism]remainedwithnoshareinthetreasuresofgraphicart.”3Jewish
aniconism echoes whenever scholars declare that “the visual arts never
played acentral role in thereligiously dominated premodernJewish cul-
ture.”4Almostubiquitous,thedenialisatworkwhenbiographersassume
thatEasternEuropeanJewsseekingtobecomeartistswerecompelledto
“defythetraditionaltabooagainsticonicimages.”5ThethemesofJewish
aniconismareembellishedwheneverphilosophersandcriticsproposethat
“cultures vary greatly in their exploitation of the various senses and in
the way in which they relate their conceptual apparatus to the various
senses.... The Hebrews tended to think of understanding as a kind of
hearing, whereas the Greeks thought of it more as a kind of seeing.”6
4 INTRODUCTION
Belongingtoconventionalwisdom,thecredibilityofJewishaniconismis
reinforced whenever experts in diverse fields declare that “there is an in-
herentlackofvisualtalentamongstJews.”7
To ascertain the scientific validity of these assertions, to prove Jewish
aniconism factually true or false, one would have to consult a battery of
empiricallymindedspecialists:cognitivepsychologistsworkinginlabora-
toriesequippedtomeasurevisualacuity;clinicalpsychologistsandcultural
anthropologistswillingtotacklethemysteriesofartisticcreation;histori-
ansofphilosophy;andhistoriansofartprobingthenetworkofsymbiotic
relationshipsthatlinkartists,patrons,andcollectorswiththeoriesofart
andartifacts.
Regardlessoftheempiricalfindings,severalintriguingquestionswould
remainunanswered.Ideasandtheories,likeallhumanartifacts,connote
their makers. Because human activity is overdetermined, ideas and theo-
riesare overdetermined.They “havemorereasons forexisting thanthey
need.”8 Regarding the denial of Jewish art, what might some of those
reasons be? Political campaigns, wishful thinking, and controversies in
the history ofscience warn us ofimmense gaps between thevalidity of a
propositionanditspublicacceptance.Isthegapbetweentruthandpopu-
larityacluetounderstandingtheattractionsofJewishaniconism?
WhatwastheenvironmentthatallowedJewishaniconismtogerminate,
reproduce, edge out its competitors, and become conventional wisdom?
Whatgroupsofpeoplefounditcompellingorincredible?Whatweretheir
educational backgrounds, political loyalties, national identities, and reli-
giousaffiliations?DenyingoraffirmingJewishart,didtheymeantopraise
orcondemnJudaism?WhatmotivatescontemporarydiscussionsofJewish
aesthetics?Whatmotivatedpremoderndiscussions?Howdothepremod-
ern and modern discussions compare? Have Jewish and Gentile percep-
tionsofJewishvisualityandJewishartbeenimmunetohistoricalchange?
Havetheymissed theirappointmentwiththeopticiansof culture?Have
theyescapedrefractionbytheiconoclasticProtestantReformationofthe
sixteenth century; the scientific revolutions of the seventeenth century;
theAmerican,French,andRussianRevolutionsof1776,1789,and1917;
therecentemancipationandwesternizationoftheJews;theriseofpoliti-
calandracialanti-Semitism;thebirthofJewishnationalism;andthebe-
wilderingarrayofmodernist,avant-garde,andpostmoderndevelopments
inalltheartsandaesthetictheory?ThesearethequestionstowhichThe
ArtlessJewprovidespartialanswers.
The Artless Jew is chronologically partial. It focuses on medieval and
modern developments. Reference is made to the earlier traditions of Is-
raelitecultureandLateAntiquerabbinicJudaismonlyinsofarastheywere
receivedandinterpretedbylaterauthorities.TheArtlessJewisalsopartial
in combining my professional training and love for medieval Jewish
INTRODUCTION 5
thoughtwithmyamateur’sdelightinthemusicalandvisualarts.Writing
it broke the senseless and stultified habit criticized by Richard I. Cohen
ofoverlooking“thevisualdimensionofJewishlife...inthestudyofthe
Jewishpast.”9TheArtlessJewsatisfiedmydesireforthepleasuresof“criti-
cal theory” and confirmed my faith in the advantages of taking a social
approachtothehistoryofideas.10Itheightenedmyrespectforsynchronic
and diachronic differences in “ways of seeing.”11 It put and kept me in
collegialconversationwithnewfriendsandcreativescholarsfromoutside
myfield.Ittaughtme,onceagain,thehumaneandliberatinglessonthat
“allideashavemorereasonsforexistingthantheyneed.”
IundertookthisprojectwhenmyinitialconfidenceinthetruthofJew-
ish aniconism was shaken by unfulfilled expectations. I knew that “the
Jewishpeopledidnotbegintophilosophizebecauseofanirresistibleurge
todoso.Theyreceivedphilosophyfromoutsidesources,andthehistory
ofJewishphilosophyisthehistoryofthesuccessiveabsorptionsofforeign
ideaswhichwerethentransformedandadoptedtospecificJewishpoints
of view.”12 I also knew that “there has not been a major philosophical
thinkerfromPlatoandAristotle,toHeideggerandWittgenstein,whohas
nothadsomethingtosayabout[the]subject”ofart.13Ithereforeassumed
that medieval and modern Jewish philosphers were compelled to discuss
art.Iexpectedtheirdiscussionstobeuniformlydismissive,criticallynega-
tive,derogatory.Theywouldallinsistthatthe“scopicregime”ofJewish
culturehasalwaysbeenaniconic.14TheywouldunanimouslyratifyJuda-
ism’s preference for the literary and musical arts. They would imply or
declarethatthetrajectoryofJewishthoughtzigstowardtheauditory,the
verbal,andthetemporalbecauseitzagsawayfromthevisual,thepictorial,
andthespatial.15Afterall,theBookofwhichtheJewsarethePeopleisa
bookwithoutpictures.
ImaintainedtheseexpectationseventhoughIhaddiscardedoneofthe
major premises of Jewish aniconism in the preliminary stage of my re-
search for The Artless Jew. I had come to reject the dyadic antithesis be-
tween“mentalities,”betweenHebrew“understandingasakindofhear-
ing”andGreek“understandingasakindofseeing.”16Thesedistinctions
aretheperniciousproductofanoutmodedethnocentricworldviewwhose
politicalandreligiousloyaltiessimplifyandabsolutize,aggrandizeordeni-
grate, cultural peculiarities.17 I was certain that hearing and vision are
evenly distributed, mutually intertwined, and equally valued in all socie-
ties.18 I therefore concluded that under the playful shade of aristophanic
clouds, the owls of ancient Greek philosophy and the eagles of Israelite
prophecy might be made to flock together. Greek philosophers and Is-
raeliteprophetspreferredtospeakorwritetheirmindsratherthanpaint
orsculpttheirideas.Theyneverthelessfoundvisualimagesirresistibleand
visual metaphors indispensable. According to Plato’s Republic, Socrates