BY JOSHUA MAX FELDMAN The act of naming is a primary human activity. In the first moments of Genesis, God creates, and Adam names: the beasts of the field and the birds of the air, “and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.” Even before the appearance of Eve, before humanity
On Thursday, February 25, LABAlive will present an evening of fiction, presentations, and subversive teachings exploring our relationship with beauty. The evening will feature teachings by Ruby Namdar and work by fellows Gon Ben Ari, Jessica Gross, and Gal Beckerman, who will present “Photographing Ugly,” an exploration of the New York Photo League’s work. Beckerman talks about his project and the inspiration he found in
BY REBECCA MARGOLICK AND MAXX BERKOWITZ We were moved by the text we discussed at our LABA session last week, which told the story of Rabbi Ishmael’s children, enslaved for their extraordinary beauty. The story paints a dark image of the deeply seeded extreme voyeurism ingrained in humanity. Beauty drives us to great evil, jealousy and
BY JESSICA GROSS Once again, I can’t escape beauty: it seems to be eyeing me from everything I read and see, peeking out from nooks and crannies or smacking me right in the face. (And thank God.) Below, some of the best quotes and links on beauty I’ve come across in the past few weeks, from works
BY JESSICA GROSS Short Fiction She wore her beauty like a shawl. It was not only protective, but extrinsic to her, inconstant. Certain days, she could feel its tight hug: she walked the streets powerfully, strutting as if she were in a music video. Other days, she was naked. To walk the streets in this
BY GAL BECKERMAN I don’t have a son and so I feel spared King David’s lament for Absalom, calling out the name of his dead child not only because of the loss — though this would be enough — but because, with Absalom’s death, the purest projection of himself has been erased from the world. This came
BY JESSICA GROSS As we at LABA delve deeply into how beauty weaves through classic Jewish texts, I’ve found I can barely go a day without finding echoes of our discussions in the culture. Below, a collection of contemporary meditations on beauty for your listening and reading pleasure. “One of the huge confusions in our times is to
BY JESSICA GROSS Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life begins as a classic coming-of-age tale: four young men, college friends, navigate their way in the world. But slowly (over the course of 700-plus pages), the novel narrows into the story of Jude. A beautiful boy, he suffers a litany of vile abuses, beginning with serial rape
This year, LABA launched its first international program, LABA-BA: Laboratorio de Arte y Cultura Judía, in Buenos Aires. As in New York, LABA-BA’s fellows are artists across all disciplines, studying classic Jewish texts in a non-religious, open-minded setting. Here, words from LABA-BA’s founder and director, Mirta Kupferminc. Three years ago, I received the first invitation to be an international fellow
On Tuesday, LABA kicked off our year of study around a table in the 14th Street Y’s gorgeous theater, washing down our discussion with food and wine. Each of our fellows and staff brought in a beautiful item and explained its power in an effort to begin to parse our personal relationships to beauty. And then, cracking open our discussion