CURIOSITIES
  • CLOTHES
  • HAIR
  • GOATS
  • SALT
  • DREAMS

FROM A SINGLE STRAND
UNRAVELING BIG JEWISH IDEAS 
These "Curiosity Cases" prompt provocative discussions. ​Enchanting, sensual and strangely interconnected these discrete topics are examined through traditional and modern Jewish sources ranging from the scientific to the mystical, from poetry to philology.​ 

Hair O Israel:
​Jewish Hair Untangled 

​“Hair which completely replenishes itself is a powerful symbol.  It can signify age, conformity, mourning, rebellion, punishment, servitude, sex appeal.  It is styled to show beauty, removed to cause humiliation, interpreted as a sign of strength or weakness.” The quote, from Dr. Connie Koppelman, was part of a presentation to the National Women's Studies Association in Washington on "The Politics of Hair,” in 1994, and served as the catalyst for our discussion of Jewish women and hair from the Bible to the present. ​
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Tunics, Tailors and Tsnee-us:
​Jews in Clothes

From the first designer clothing, leather garments fashioned by God for Adam and Eve, to the High Americana of Ralph Lauren (nee Lifshitz), Jews have had an interest in clothes. Together we survey the role of clothing in Jewish history and tradition with a special focus on the preponderance of Jews in the garment and fashion industries and the meaning of “traditional” Jewish garb such as the prayer shawl and the mink coat.

Had Gadya to Two Sets of Dishes:
​Jews & Goats 

Though most of us are hardly able to pick our heads off the table from all the wine and talk, the singing of the folk song Had Gadya always seems to give us a second wind just as the Passover Seder ends. Designed to provoke the curiosity of children (which is one of the main purposes of the entire evening), its simple words and melody belie a deeper and perhaps darker meaning that is often obscured by the lateness of the hour and the lively tune. Explore the symbolism of goats in Jewish culture and the song that thrusts them into the spotlight.
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Herring to Hand Cream:
​Jews & Salt

From the tales of Lot's wife to the growing market for Ahava bath products this edible rock has helped preserve many ancient Jewish traditions around relationships, blessings and health. Together we explore a variety of texts, traditions, superstitions, and symbolic associations that come with a pinch of NaCl..
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All Royal Roads Lead to Home:
​Jews & Dreams 

​​Just saying “Jews and dreams” is enough to conjure images of Jacob’s ladder and Freud’s couch but, the broadest sense of the topic encompasses everything from prophecy to illusion, from the passionate rhetoric of political visionaries to the private world of poets.  Together we stave off REM sleep with a nod to some of the great Jewish dreams and dreamers.
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