Yehuda Hyman on how he ended up dancing for his mother Sara Sara Guver Hyman We are gathered around the table at the LABA House of Study reading from the Book of Samuel: the heroine, Hannah can’t get pregnant, she pours her heart out to G-d* (see below). G-d hears Hannah’s prayers, promises
Brooke Berman on the ongoing meditation of mothers “Hotel Room” by Edward Hopper I am writing this from a plane to Aspen, on my way to premiere my first film, a digital short, at a festival. It is a dream come true. And yet I spent the morning in tears because in pursuing this dream,
Elissa Strauss on the inescapable and escapable aspects of motherhood “The Young Mother” Mary Cassatt 10 and she was in bitterness of soul–and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. 11 And she vowed a vow, and said: ‘O LORD of hosts, if Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thy handmaid, and remember
Mirta Kupferminc explains the inspiration behind ‘Eve: Chair of All Mothers’
Clémence Boulouque takes a look at Regina Jonas, the first female rabbi and a mother who had no children Regina Jonas There was no rabbi at my Dad’s funeral. I was eleven when he died. A pious man and a poor salesman. My first teacher. But we did not have enough to pay for a rabbi.
Sigal Samuel on what happens when the matriarchs take a field trip to paradise “Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden” Lucas Cranach the Elder In one of my favorite Talmudic stories, four rabbis enter a mystical garden known as the pardes, with bad results: one dies, one goes insane, one becomes a heretic, and
by Siona Benjamin Four cathedral-scale mixed media panels exploring the journey of the four matriachs as they enter the Pardes. Till all children are safe, none are safe. Mothers will find it within themselves to make everything happen. (Benjamin’s work is on display at the 14th Street Y through the end of March.) Kizoa slideshow:
Elissa Strauss on the Power of Parenthood Becoming a mother didn’t make me nicer. More compassionate? Yes. More sensitive? Sure. But nicer. No. During the few months in which I was “trying”, I started involuntarily responding to pregnant women with a snarl. Then there was the period of time following my son’s birth when my
Ruby Namdar on how motherhood exalted and destroyed the women of Genesis Adriaen van der Werff: “Sarah Presenting Hagar” Motherhood, especially with the first child, is an extremely tender, and hence vulnerable, state. But this extreme state of fragility is also a time in which the visible and invisible structures of power in the family
Tom Block on the Knife’s Edge Between Creation and Destruction Kizoa slideshow: Tom Block – Slideshow Through my nearly three decades as a playwright, author and artist, I have thought deeply about human origins. That moment when Being flared from nothingness. The LABA Fellowship has provided a vessel within which to create a specific work