David Moss, Deborah Ugoretz & Rachel Biale: The Art of the Ketubah
Jun 2 @ 11:00 am - 1:30 pm
Join New Lehrhaus and the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life for The Art of the Ketubah, a panel discussion and collections tour with David Moss, Deborah Ugoretz, and Rachel Biale.
Sunday, June 2, 2024 | 11:00am to 1:30pm Pacific time
The lecture will be hybrid.
In person at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, and virtual via Zoom.
New Lehrhaus program fee:
$18 in-person discussion followed by a tour of the Magnes’s Ketubot collection. A light lunch will be served.
$12 on Zoom
If you have any questions about accessibility or require accommodations to participate in this event, please contact us at magnes@berkeley.edu or call us at (510) 643-2526 with as much advance notice as possible.
The art of illuminating ketubot (Jewish Marriage contracts) spans Jewish communities from India and Iran, to Europe, North Africa, and America. In the late 1960s several calligraphers and artists revived and re-envisioned this art, key among them David Moss in Berkeley (housed at the Judah L. Magnes Museum) and Stuart Kelman in Los Angeles.
In this program, we will hear from and see examples of the work of David Moss in Jerusalem, cut-paper artist Deborah Ugertz in New York, and New Lehrhaus’ own, Rachel Biale. Following the presentation, the in-person audience will have a light lunch and guided tour of the Magnes’s collection of Ketubot.
David Moss launched the revival of the Hand-Made Ketubah in the late 1960s. Through hundreds of private commissions, cover stories, articles on his work in national publications, exhibits, and his piece in the Jewish Catalogue, Moss kicked off the renaissance of the modern Ketubah and created a mini-industry of hundreds of Ketubah artists. He has also illustrated the Haggadah and the book Love Letters:A Celebration of Jewish Love and Marriage in Words and Images.
Deborah Ugoretz works in papercuts, painting, and small constructions. She was recognized by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts as a master cut-paper artist and for eight years, she was a co-coordinator of an Artist Beit Midrash – artists who study Jewish texts and create visual interpretations. She has been creating Ketubot since the 1970’s. Her studio in Brooklyn is also a linchpin in the annual Redhook Open Studios event which she initiated and continues to guide in partnership with local artists.
Rachel Biale has been creating custom-made ketubot since the early 1970s. Her work is informed by her artistic sensibility and her deep knowledge of Jewish law pertaining to women, marriage, and sexuality, which she explored in her book, Women and Jewish Law (1984). She has worked in the Bay Area Jewish community since the late 1980s and currently serves as the Executive Director of New Lehrhaus.