Hebrew Alphabet for Deaf - Mutes

Allison Coudert points out in her book The Impact of the Kabbalah in the Seventeenth Century: The Life and Thought of Francis Mercury van Helmont that van Helmont believed that the mystical powers of Hebrew letters could ultimately:
...reveal answers to every single question exercising the human mind about God and the universe.
The full title of van Helmont's book translated into English reads as follows, 'A Most Compendious and truly Natural Draught of the Hebrew Alphabet, which at the same time furnishes a method whereby those who are born deaf may be so informed that they may not only understand others speaking but also may themselves arrive at the use of speech'.
It was not, as the title might suggest, a clinical treatise but a philosophical work arguing that Hebrew was the divine language of creation in which words exactly expressed the essential natures of things. Van Helmont contended that while time and ignorance had led to the corruption of Hebrew he had rediscovered its original form. He expected great things from this, believing it would bring an end to the religious controversies which had precipitated the Reformation and embittered its aftermath. He envisioned a natural Hebrew alphabet by which men would live in religious peace and social harmony.By showing that deaf mutes could easily learn to speak Hebrew, van Helmont thought that he could demonstrate the two premises on which his theory of the natural alphabet was based: first, that there were such things as innate ideas; they had only to be activated to come into conciousness. And second, that Hebrew language perfectly represented these innate ideas.
'Kurtzer Entwurff des Eigentlichen Natur-Alphabets' [at HAB], by Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont (Hellmont).
(Via http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/)

רחוב מוכרי הספרים-אוקטובר 1964

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Read this document on Scribd: רחוב מוכרי הספרים

כתבה של שלמה שבא

Meshal Ha-Kadmoni : Rare Hebrew fable book

(from Oxford Digital Library)
Rare Hebrew fable book by the 13th century Hebrew poet, scholar and cabbalist, Isaac ben Solomon Abi Sahula (born 1244). His fables were originally written in 1281 with the intention to replace the light foreign literature with an original Hebrew literary work. The fables came from India, from the 'Pantscha Tantra', very popular among Jews in the Middle Ages. Sahula imitated in his translation the structure and presentation of the original 'Pantscha Tantra' or 'Bidpai' fables, but inserted a large amount of popular and scientific knowledge into the fables. In the present series of satirical debates between cynics and moralists, put into the mouths of animals, the moralist always triumphs. The debates on subjects such as time, the soul, medicine, astronomy and astrology, largely reflect human foibles, political compromise and court intrigues. The fables provide a most unusual introduction into the intellectual and social universe of the Sephardic Jewish world of 13th-century Spain.
גם ספרי חול עבריים נדפסו בתקופה זו באיטליה, ואף הם נחשבים אינקונבלות . ובהם "ספר המחברות" של עמנואל הרומי, הידועות כ"מחברות עמנואל", נדפס לראשונה בשנת 1492.
וכן ספר "משל הקדמוני" המכיל סיפורים משעשעים בחרוזים, שנכתב על ידי הפילוסוף, הרופא והמקובל רבי יצחק בן שלמה אבן סהולה, הספר נכתב בשנת 1281 והודפס לראשונה בשנת 1491 בעיר ברישא באיטליה והיה הספר העברי הראשון שהכיל ציורים

"The wondrous fables of Ibn Sahula in Meshal haqadmoni, presented here in English for the first time, provide a most unusual introduction to the intellectual and social universe of the Sephardi Jewish world of thirteenth-century Spain. Ibn Sahula wrote his fables in rhymed prose, here rendered into English as rhymed couplets. They comprise a series of satirical debates between a cynic and a moralist, put into the mouths of animals; the moralist always triumphs. The debates, which touch on such subjects as time, the soul, the physical sciences and medicine, astronomy, and astrology, amply reflect human foibles, political compromise, and court intrigue. They are suffused throughout with traditional Jewish law and lore, a flavour reinforced by the profusion of biblical quotations reapplied."

החמישייה הקאמרית-ספרים

מאסטרו בעין הוד Maestro in Ein Hod

Maestro is a non-profit association that promotes music and culture education in Israel and supports young local talents. The conference took place 2 weeks ago at the picturesque artists' village of Ein Hod and featured panels and screenings of music films, along with the other attractions
שיעורי מוסיקה הם דבר יקר, במיוחד לילדי הפריפריה. מפעל "מאסטרו" שהקימה אביבה, הופך את המוסיקה לנגישה. "כשילדים מבלים בתוך מרכז מוסיקה ויוצרים – לא נמצא אותם ברחוב", היא אומרת אביטל אילת-לובוב אולפן שישי (more on Maestro in Ein Hod מאסטרו בכפר עין הוד)

Leibowitz ,Eldad - Maalot 1982

Israel Eldad (b. 1910 as Israel Scheib in Podvolochisk, Galicia, d. 1996), was a Revisionist Zionist philosopher. He was an early member and later chief ideological strategist of the Lohamei Herut Yisrael (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel) or Lehi. Called By the British the Stern Gang.
Born in Riga, Yeshayahu Leibowitz (brother of Nechama) was educated in Germany and Switzerland and immigrated to Eretz Yisrael in 1935. He joined the faculty of Hebrew University and taught chemistry, physiology, and history and philosophy of science. He authored many books and articles, lectured publicly, and was an editor of several volumes of the Encyclopedia Hebraica. Outspoken in his views on Judaism and Israel, he aroused a great deal of debate and antagonism among religious and non-religious circles. The decision in 1992 to award him the Israel Prize sparked much controversy, and Leibowitz declined to receive it. He died in Jerusalem in 1994
(for much more click HERE)

Jack Pajack and Ein Hod

מכונית שידור בכפר עין הוד
Jack Pajack and Ein Hod rulers cruel huntdown on Mazar TV on ZVTV Transmitter
מסמך מזעזע של פגיע בחופש הביטוי בעין הוד

Treasure Hunt: Pottery in Ein Hod (heb) עין הוד

מחפשים את המטמון בקדרות נעמי וזאב ורכובסקי בעין הוד
תמיד פתוח

Ein Hod, Mona Lisa's Smile and the Best Hummus in the World

Again you'll visit Naomi Verchovsky's and studio and Ein Hod artist's village
Bonus: Sex life of Sheep
חיי המין של כבש בכפר עין הוד
קדרות של נעמי ורכובסקי
חומוס אבו יעקב - הטוב בישראל

Gadi Taub on Naomi's Wheel in Ein Hod

A day in Ein hod with Gadi Taub
Potting with Naomi Verchovsky with Lisa's help
גדי טאוב על האובניים בעין הוד
נעמי וליסה ורכובסקי כוכבות הטלביזיה

Ein Hod : Neverending Story 1993

"Life has changed and we have changed accordingly," says Huss. "The veterans had a vision to create a place where artists could be together, inspire each other, and also make a living. I have a hard time believing that today people want to live here because of the artistic society, but mainly for the beauty of the place. The rest is a bonus and sometimes also an excuse. Many people who have moved here participated in courses and after two or three weeks became artists. Today being an artist is pretty easy. In one village there is a cheese industry, and in another there is an art industry.
"The vibe of the community has also changed. When my husband and I arrived here 30 years ago, there were parties on holidays, the restaurant was a meeting place, we were all together - it was spontaneous. Today that doesn't exist. Ein Hod has become a different communal town."

(read more...)

Marcel Janco and Ein Hod

Little (Ein Hod) Women נשים קטנות-עין הוד

jack Pajack and ZVTV video workshop
ein hod end of 90's
עין הוד

Par desmit minutem vecaks

What "anti-system," "anti-Soviet" things could be seen in the Herz Frank's (cameraman Juris Podnieks) small film "Ten Minutes Older" (1978) that became an original business card of both Frank and the new Latvian documentary filmmaking? In this one-take film, a very small boy, with great devotion, lives through apparently a theatre show (film viewers see neither the stage nor hear what actors talk), he laughs, he cries, his facial expressions change continuously, and from this we can read all what he feels. It is very amusing to follow it. And is this all? The longer you watch the screen, the more worrisome you feel. Ideas are coming into your mind about what will happen to the young hero when he grows up, how his life will develop. And then, insensibly, you look back to your own life; what has happened to you since you were as ' old as this boy? And why the ability to live with such devotion has been " lost? Why the ten minutes are so thick and where the time of my only life is lost? There are no words in this film, but there is something that does not let you go and, actually, makes you think about the meaning of life.Merely a little film. Why should the authorities turn against it? It could be even used as advocacy for the beauty of childhood in the Soviet country. Unless it would make you think so irresistibly...(more...)
Герц Вульфович Франк (17 января 1926, Лудза) - латвийский и израильский кинодокументалист.
פרנק, יליד לטוויה, הוא ממייסדי אסכולת הקולנוע התיעודי הפואטי של ריגה; אסכולה הדוגלת בחשיפת הערך האמנותי של המציאות המתועדת באמצעים פואטיים-פילוסופיים ומדגישה את חשיבותה של שפה חזותית ייחודית. "אני לא עושה סרטים, אלא מצלם את החיים, מתבונן בהם", הוא אומר בראיון בדירתו בירושלים. "אני מאמין שכמו אלוהים שיצר את האדם בצלמו, גם אנחנו מצלמים את המציאות בצלמנו. כלומר, אנחנו מצלמים את זרם החיים שלפנינו, ותוך כדי כך רואים את בבואתנו משתקפת בזרם הזה. הרי את הסרטים שאני עשיתי, אדם אחר היה עושה באופן אחר".
פרנק הוא מאסטרו, הוא אחד הבמאים הגדולים של הקולנוע הדוקומנטרי העולמי", אומר לב, במאי סרטי תעודה בעצמו ומרצה לקולנוע בבצלאל ובבית הספר סם שפיגל. כל סרטיו של פרנק מנסים לחשוף את המתרחש בנבכי הנפש האנושית, ולדברי לב, הם בעלי עוצמה ויזואלית עזה בין היתר בזכות יכולתו המרשימה לתעד נופים, חללים ופנים של אנשים. "פרנק הוא החוקר הגדול של נפש האדם בקולנוע התיעודי. הסבלנות שלו להתבונן היא קולנוע דוקומנטרי קלאסי במיטבו, ובמובן הזה הוא באותה ליגה עם דוד פרלוב", אומר לב. הוא מוסיף כי קוסאקובסקי, במאי התעודה הרוסי המוערך, היה תלמידו של פרנק ומקפיד לתת לו את הקרדיט על כך .
(להמשך)

Parting the Red Sea

"Know Touching" is a comprehensive, almost anthological survey of references to masturbation in both Hebrew and translated literature, as well as in the press. The book describes the historical changes in attitude toward masturbation and the negative associations some literature has implanted in the hearts of generations of women: "The victim of this literature starts to believe that she is already becoming unfit for work, or begins to fear the onset of some mental illness, some weakening of the nervous system. It is enough to feel some sort of symptom once, such as a headache, anger, a memory lapse, heart palpitations, and she is immediately prepared to see this as a result of masturbation."
In the course of her research, Pliskin discovered that she is not the only one with this so-called problem. Her studies led her to talk about masturbation with many women - the youngest 20 years old and the oldest over 90 - including religious women, Mizrahi women (with origins in Middle Eastern countries), Ashkenazi women (with origins in Eastern and Central Europe), straight women, lesbians and also an Arab woman. All revealed their deepest secrets to her and attributed their responses to Israel's social reality, which - according to Pliskin and most women she spoke with - transmits the message that this simple, natural activity is problematic, not to mention sickening.(more from Haaretz) by By Itzhak (Zahy) Ben Zion
" Dvarim sheratziti laga'at" ("Know Touching") by Gili Pliskin, Yedioth Ahronoth Books, 350 pages, NIS 98.

Israeli Potter: Doron Jacoby 1946-2008

Dear Sirs & Madams,
I would like to introduce myself:
My name is Doron Jacoby and I was born in Israel in 1946.
From 1960-1964, I studied at an art school in Tel Aviv.
In 1968, I established a studio for pottery.
My specialty was kitchen ware, in the style of majolica on red
clay fired at a temperature of 1020 to 1060 degrees.
In the 1980's, I started using the raku and smoke fire methods of firing, especially for big ornamental and decorative products.
I have participated in group exhibitions both in Israel and abroad and have also held my own exhibitions.
I have also hosted workshops for students and ceramic artists in places such as universities & museums( for more>>) בצער רב אנו מודיעים על פטירתו, לאחר מחלה ממושכת , של דורון יעקובי ז"ל - קרמיקאי ותיק ואהוד .הלווייתו התקיימה ביום שישי.
כתובת המשפחה: הראשונים 13/3 , כפר סבא. טלפון: 077-7680341

The Pinhead Codex

In a nanotechnology breakthrough, scientists from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have printed the entire Old Testament onto a silicon chip smaller than a pinhead (less than 1/1000th of an inch).The idea to write the Old Testament on such a tiny surface was conceived by Technion Professor Uri Sivan of the Faculty of Physics, who is also head of the university's Russell Berrrie Nanotechnology Institute.
The text was written using a focused ion beam (FIB) generator that shot tiny particles called Gallium ions onto a gold surface covering a base layer of silicon. In a process that can be likened to digging a hole in the earth using a water jet, the ion beam etched the surface of the gold layer, making the underlying silicon layer visible. The actual "writing" of the full text took just 90 minutes. The computer program that guided the FIB, however, took more than three months.(from ATS)

Guide for the Perplexed in Copenhagen

Guide for the Perplexed is beyond any doubt the most famous of the app. 300 Hebrew manuscripts in the collections of The Royal Library. Also known as "The Copenhagen Maimonides", the manuscript was written and illuminated in Catalonia in the years 1347-1348, and is one of the finest examples of the illumination traditions of this part of Spain in this era.
The “illuminatorship” of “the Copenhagen Maimonides” has been much debated, but the current consensus is that the main illuminator was Ferrer Bassa, active in Barcelona as leader of a workshop, which also included his son Arnau. He is better known as a mural painter (the San Miguel de Pedralbes monastery, Barcelona), but is thought to have been the illuminator of several manuscripts.
One possibility is that Ferrer Bassa is responsible for the larger panels in the codex, while other members of the workshop may have executed the marginal illuminations. Some of the details connect with words in the text, but whether these cases point to a Jewish illuminator is uncertain; they may also be a result of cooperation with the scribe or the patron. It has been suggested that "the Copenhagen Maimonides” was Ferrer Bassa’s last work. He died around the time of is completion, presumably from the Black Death; after 1348, nothing is known of him or his son.

Judge by it's cover: Book Art in Ein Hod

Gillian Robinson’s installation is a series of books, inspired by the texture and surface qualities of ancient icons found in Monasteries in Cyprus. They carry an atmosphere of survival of endurance and hope.
Some of the books have sculptural qualities, some are bound and tied with their contents locked away, whilst others can be handled and explored. They have a beautiful physicality - they smell of ash, wax or resin. Pages ask to be turned, and their surfaces cracked open, revealing juxtapositions, glimpsed fragments. Somehow the form of the books is at one with the content. Books have a powerful symbolism, communicating ideas, knowledge, wisdom, history, experience. The new exibition which opens on Saturday 15 at LevendelBloch gallery in Ein Hod seems to capture that sense of power, combined with great vulnerability (via DRUMCROON)
For Hebrew click Here

Potters' symposium, Tel-Hai College, Israel

Originally trained as a painter at the academy of fine arts in Vienna, Regina Heinz discovered working with clay a few years ago as an expansion and enrichment of her previous work. She studied Ceramics in Vienna, Geneva and London, where she has been living since 1989.
Fascinated by the softness and malleability of wet clay, Regina has developed a special slab building technique to construct free standing sculptures and relief pieces for wall hanging. Slabs are rolled out and then "tailored": joined, pushed, folded, stretched and incised until the piece has taken on its final shape and expression, yet the material has retained its original softness and surface texture.

The pastel, larger-scaled sculptures that Chris Gustin has been producing for the past two or three years also start out as claycylinders on the wheel, though it would be hard to guess that onfirst glance. Technically functional as plant pots but really orna-mental, each sculpture resembles a monumental assemblage offuturist sculptures by Jean Arp or Constantin Brancusi, a compos-ite construction of ovals, cubes, bars and spheres that gyratesvertically from a relatively small base to a dramatically fuller brim.Smoky shades of green, gray, red or blue, they’re hollow inside likeany ordinary vase, and open at the top (unlike any ordinarysculpture), but perforated with drainage holes at the base foroutdoor placement on patios and in gardens.

Clive Bowen was born in 1943 and brought up in Cardiff. In the early sixties he enrolled at Cardiff College of Art to study painting and etching. A chance meeting in London with David Leach's brother Michael in 1965 led to a four year apprenticeship in the latter's workshop. Subsequently Clive Bowen found employment as a production thrower at a traditional pottery in Devon
The anonymous discipline of making humble, useful domestic things by hand, far from discouraging him, proved a source of inspiration. This he took with him when, with the encouragement and advice of Michael Cardew, he founded his own workshop in a run-down Devon dairy-farmhouse in 1971. His large two chamber kiln, made from local second-hand brick, is fired every two weeks with wood from a nearby sawmill. Virtually all his materials are from the surrounding region, to the point that the red clay he uses for slip trailing comes from his own back garden
(for hebrew click HERE)
...some more pictures from Shlomo Edan