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The Saint and the Zohar

May 1, 2015 By Vivian B. Mann z”l | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim

We often think of Jewish life in Spain in terms of the massacres of 1391 and the Spanish Expulsion in 1492. But the art made for the Church between those two dates presents a more nuanced view of Christian–Jewish relations.

Uneasy Communion: Jews, Christians, and the Alterpieces of Medieval Spain

Oct 4, 2012 By Vivian B. Mann z”l | Public Event audio

Dr. Vivian Mann, director emerita of the Master’s Program in Jewish Art and Visual Culture, discusses Uneasy Communion: Jews, Christians, and the Alterpieces of Medieval Spain in this Library Book Talk.

Tears at the Moon

Aug 13, 2011 By Vivian B. Mann z”l | Commentary | Va'et-hannan

Throughout my youth, I sat next to my grandmother in the synagogue. When we recited the Blessing Over the New Moon, in which we beseech God for a spiritually rewarding life that knows no physical impediments, my grandmother would cry. Each month, I remember her tears and they deepen my understanding of the prayer.

When Humanity Creates with God

Feb 28, 2009 By Vivian B. Mann z”l | Commentary | Terumah

Parashat T’rumah records God’s commission to Moses to build the Tabernacle as the spiritual center of the Jewish people, the place where God would dwell among them (Exod. 25:8). Set in the center of the Israelite camp, viewed from the surrounding tents, the Tabernacle was intended to be a physically imposing structure. Its specified height and size gave it a grandeur lacking elsewhere in the camp, and the sumptuous materials of which it was composed were outward signs of its special nature. Height and materials differentiated the Tabernacle from all the other covered spaces surrounding it, emphasized its distinctiveness, and contributed to defining it as a holy space. The concept of a holy space had appeared earlier in the Bible, for example, as Moses approached the burning bush (Exod. 3:5); now it was to be applied to a man-made structure that would allow God to dwell in the midst of His people.

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