Jewish Art: A Term or a Topic?

By Mel Rivkin
Binghamton University

What I will tell you is that this article is stereotypical of most Jewish gatherings and occurrences: it is late. What does that mean? That, my delay in writing this and turning it in is, in fact, Jewish art. Art is often hard to pinpoint. It is one of those words that naturally seems to have definitions invented by my favorite: the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, but also by the common folk. What society often has a misunderstanding about is that art is formed everyday. So what is Jewish art? The reason why these words are put together to suggest that art has to be set in a certain category is often difficult to fully understand; especially since the word "Jewish" is a term identified by most as a religion (some see it as culture, others see it as a mix of the two). I do not think I know all the answers. I do not know who all of the Jewish artists were and are, or how this idea actually became something we look at as an aspect of our own religious and cultural (yes, I see Judaism as both) core.

I do believe that every one of us has somehow been influenced by someone else – as much as we would like to tell people that we have innovated what has never been thought of before, this will never be true. In 1873, Levi Strauss invented blue jeans. In 1870, Jacob Davis, a tailor from Nevada began to make work pants for men with metal on the sides to strengthen the legs of workers. Even jeans, a pant style so common in our current-day society, stemmed from a previous influence. Beyond that, Levi Strauss was Jewish. Is Strauss part of what can be called Jewish art? Of course. Are both the reader and the writer of this article considered artists? They could be if they wanted to be. I think I am – maybe I should tell you about it.

As a performance artist, I have been a dancer, actress, singer, saxophonist, pianist, and drummer. As a visual artist I have been a writer, painter and drawer. I'm also often told that I'm crazy, which somehow seems to be termed separate from all of my interests. Often those who don't call themselves artists get confused about what art really is. To me, it is something that I have used to come into myself throughout the span of my life thus far. Back when I was a little person of three feet tall I would burst out into Des'ree's "You Gotta Be" and write songs for the piano which I played only once or twice in my entire life. When I grew (both physically and mentally), I created bigger works, such as the Rivkin Record, a newsletter that was weekly distributed to my immediate family to inform them of what we did as the Rivkins over the past week (we could just have had dinner conversations and been okay, but I felt the need to go to the extremes). Nowadays I'm in a band called the Yellin' Sweaters – I play the drum I made at a month-long workshop called Genesis, a summer program for high school students looking to gain more knowledge of how secular subjects connected with Jewish ones. The drum in and of itself is a Jewish product – it was made and played by Jews. I do not know if the band I play this drum in is considered a Jewish band. Often society marks Jewish music as rooted from Hebrew texts and both historical and biblical accounts.

The Yellin' Sweaters does not categorize itself as Jewish, but I have written pieces that speak of my cries for Israeli independence. Sure, Israel was established in 1948, but ever since then it has struggled to stay on an equal footing with its Arab neighbors. During my last visit to Israel in December of 2008, I wrote "Peace Sign on Her Ass," which correlates the peace sign I sewed onto one of my pairs of jeans with the war in Israel that was going on during my trip. Putting Judaism into my lyrics is important- not only is it a good listening experience, it is also a great learning one.

With that said, I will leave you with this: do not let anyone tell you what is aesthetically correct. That is something you have to find for yourself, and is something that Jews do all the time, through prayer, learning, song and dance.

Melanie Rivkin is currently a sophomore at Binghamton University. She is involved in both Hillel and Chabad on campus, as well as many environmentally- and musically-friendly organizations.

[Posted 10/17/09]